Report: Jimi Manuwa vs. Volkan Oezdemir in the works for UFC 214

Update (May 31, 12:11 p.m. ET): Manuwa vs. Oezdemir was confirmed by UFC officials Wednesday morning.

A pivotal light heavyweight fight is in the works for July’s second pay-per-view card.

Jimi Manuwa is targeted to face Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 214, MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani reported Tuesday. But it’s “not a done deal just yet,” per Helwani.

UFC president Dana White had already stated earlier this month that Manuwa would be on UFC 214 in case the 205-pound title fight between champ Daniel Cormier and ex-titleholder Jon Jones, which is scheduled to headline the card, falls apart.

Manuwa is coming off a first-round knockout win over Corey Anderson in the main event of UFC Fight Night 107 in London, England two months ago. Prior to that, he upset former interim title challenger Ovince Saint Preux by TKO.

Oezdemir has made big waves since joining the UFC roster only earlier this year. In his debut, he fought the aforementioned Saint Preux on short notice at UFC Fight Night 104 in February and picked up a close decision victory. Just this past weekend in the UFC Fight Night 109 co-main event in Stockholm, Sweden, Oezdemir upset rising contender Misha Cirkunov with a stellar knockout less than a minute into the bout.

UFC 214 takes place live from Honda Center in Anaheim on July 29.