On a mission
Moncton UFC headliner looking to land another title shot
MONCTON TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
Volkan Oezdemir challenged for the UFC light heavyweight championship earlier this year. Now, he’s on a mission to land another title shot.
Oezdemir lost to UFC champ Daniel Cormier last January and hopes his road back to a second championship fight begins in Moncton.
Ranked second in the light heavyweight division, Oezdemir clashes with No. 10 Anthony Smith in the five-round main event of the UFC Fight Night card on Saturday at the Avenir Centre, UFC’s debut in New Brunswick.
“Since Day 1, I’ve wanted to be a champion,” Oezdemir said.
“It’s something I always knew I was going to be and something I’m really striving for. It’s one of my dreams and it’s something I’m working really hard for.”
Oezdemir (15-2), a 28-year-old Swiss who fights out of Florida, has been idle since his setback to Cormier nine months ago, a loss by second-round TKO.
He had two fights scheduled since then, but both were cancelled, including a showdown with fellow top light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson in July due to a broken nose suffered in training.
Rust won’t be an issue in his long-awaited return to the octagon on Saturday, he said.
“Those fights didn’t happen, but I’ve been training hard every day,” said Oezdemir. “I’ve improved a lot and my level kept improving. I feel more than ready now to be facing Anthony.”
Oezdemir likes the matchup against Smith (30-13), a 30-yearold native of Texas.
Smith has wasted no time since moving up to light heavyweight from the middleweight division in June. During a seven-week span, he delivered first-round knockout wins over former champions Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua.
“He’s a striker, and this is something I’ve been doing all my life. This is not the most difficult matchup for me because I don’t think he’s as technical as me,” said Oezdemir, who tore through the UFC ranks following his arrival in 2017 with wins over Ovince Saint Preux, Misha Cirkunov and Jimi Manuwa.
“He’s also coming from the middleweight division, which is something he’s going to feel whenever he gets punched by me.
“I think I’ve faced the highest striking fighters in the division already and I’ve got way more experience in terms of high-level fighters. This will be a different fight for him and his first experience with the top of the division.”
Both Oezdemir and Smith are known for their knockout power.
“It’s going to be a really explosive fight. Both of us bring a great amount of power in our punches and it’s going to be a duel of heavy strikers,” Oezdemir said. “It’s going to be really entertaining for the fans because we both bring pressure and we both go to war.”