Volkan Oezdemir Reveals His Lofty UFC Goal
Former title contender Volkan Oezdemir has his next fight booked, and now he’s trying to return to his winning ways.
Oezdemir is looking to get back in the win column and on track to another title shot as he suffered a second-round TKO loss against Daniel Cormier at UFC 220 in January.
It’s already been announced that he’s slated to fight former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua at UFC Fight Night 129 or better known as UFC Chile.
During a recent interview, Oezdemir revealed his lofty goal for this year, which is to become UFC champion within the next year.
“It’s all about the goal,” Oezdemir told MMAjunkie. “It’s all about where I’m headed. … I’m still heading toward the same goal. It was not even one year to my title shot, and I guarantee you it’s not going to be another year until I’m champion.”
“I think it’s a little bit of everything,” Oezdemir said. “It’s a big picture. It’s a mix of technique. It’s a mix of understanding the flow, the momentum, the timing during fights. Of course it’s different when you fight the champion and somebody who’s been in there before and fought against the best of the best, so it’s definitely something that you learn from, and this makes you a better fighter.”
“I always fought with my contact lens in, and sometimes you get eye-poked or just rubbing the face, and I lose my contact while I’m fighting and then it’s stuck in my eyes or stuff like that,” Oezdemir said. “So it was always a problem, and I just wanted to take care of it.”
UFC Chile is set to take place on Saturday, May 19, 2018, at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile. The main card will air on FOX Sports 1 at while the preliminary card will be split broadcasted on FOX Sports 1 at and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.
Although the UFC has yet to announce the main event for this show, Oezdemir vs. Rua could serve as the headliner.
“Everything can happen fast,” Oezdemir said. “We saw that last year with me. Everything can happen really fast. You just need to make the right decisions and take the right opportunities.”
