Despite losing in a title bout to Daniel Cormier, Volkan Oezdemir is more optimistic than ever about winning the UFC light heavyweight title.
Volkan Oezdemir suffered a knock-back at UFC 220, losing out on his chance to become the first Swiss fighter to take home a UFC title.
Oezdemir went into UFC 220 with a ton of momentum and riding a five-fight win streak, but the surging light heavyweight contender was choked out by reigning champion Daniel Cormier in the third round.
But that hasn’t stopped Oezdemir from pursuing his dream of one day acquiring a UFC world title, and the 28-year-old believes he will be champion within the next year.
“It’s all about the goal,” Oezdemir told John Morgan of MMAjunkie last week. “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.”
Oezdemir says he has learned a lot from his loss to ‘DC’ and believes it will only spur him on to become a better fighter in the long run.
“I think it’s a little bit of everything,” he 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.”
Oezdemir will return to the Octagon against former light heavyweight champ Shogun Rua at UFC Fight Night 129, where he will hope to spring back into the winner’s column against a sporting legend.
“In all my division, ‘Shogun’ is the guy I would love to fight the most. It’s a fight that makes me the most excited. It’s somebody who I watched growing up and I was looking up to when I started fighting, so I have to take the chance. If I can fight him right now before he retires, I have to do it. Maybe in a few years he won’t be there anymore.”
UFC Fight 129 takes place on May 19 at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile.