Just three fights into his UFC career, Volkan Oezdemir is now on deck for a title shot. After blasting through Jimi Manuwa and Misha Cirkunov in under a minute, Oezdemir has caught the attention of newly reinstated light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who took to Twitter the other day to offer Oezdemir a title shot. […]
Just three fights into his UFC career, Volkan Oezdemir is now on deck for a title shot.
After blasting through Jimi Manuwa and Misha Cirkunov in under a minute, Oezdemir has caught the attention of newly reinstated light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who took to Twitter the other day to offer Oezdemir a title shot.
The Swiss fighter was quick to respond in a message sent to Bloody Elbow, and didn’t waste any time in accepting the opportunity:
“Since my debut into the UFC my goal was to climb the ranks in no time,” Oezdemir wrote. “I feel blessed to be called out by the champion while the number one contender didn’t respond to me.”
Cormier is once again the top dog at 205 pounds after his knockout loss to Jon Jones at UFC 214 was overturned to a no-contest following Jones’ positive test for Turinabol.
Cormier had fielded answers from MMA fans on who he should fight next, and Oezdemir won, thereby gaining the champ’s attention.
No date or location has been named for a Cormier vs Oezdemir showdown; however, it seems the champion’s mind has been made up as to whom he will fight next, and Oezdemir appears to be up for the challenge.
Do you agree with Oezdemir getting the next title shot over Alexander Gustafsson? Who wins in a battle between DC and Oezdemir?
Jon Jones is both the best and worst thing to ever happen to the UFC and perhaps mixed martial arts in general. No one before – or after – him demonstrated the athleticism and innate natural ability Jones has shown throughout his UFC career. But with those extreme highs have come extreme lows. For every […]
Jon Jones is both the best and worst thing to ever happen to the UFC and perhaps mixed martial arts in general.
No one before – or after – him demonstrated the athleticism and innate natural ability Jones has shown throughout his UFC career.
But with those extreme highs have come extreme lows. For every accolade, de there has seemingly been a head-scratching, mind-boggling screw-up to accompany it. Quite possibly the biggest screw-up came after his most recent feel-good, comeback (or so we thought) win over Daniel Cormier at July 29’s UFC 214, where Jones somehow tested positive for anabolic steroid turinabol despite only just returning from his yearlong suspension for clomiphene and letrozole before his scheduled UFC 200 rematch with Cormier.
Jones is now facing a potential four-year suspension, and it’s become a legitimately sad case where longtime MMA fans have begun to wonder if the curious career of “Bones” is done once and for all. He’s of course owed his due process, but with a drug-related incident around each and every corner for the troubled MMA legend, it isn’t looking all that good.
We broke down the six biggest reasons Jones should be banned for life from the UFC if he’s found guilty of his latest disturbing infraction, even if he is the greatest of all time.
6. The Albuquerque Hit-And-Run
Perhaps the first sign of truly major trouble (although there were indications earlier) for the youngest champion in UFC history began when a night out on the town in his adopted home of Albuquerque, New Mexico, ended up in a hit-and-run that left a 25-year-old-pregnant woman with a broken arm.
The details that emerged were as damning as they were shocking. Jones had kept up a clean-cut image early in his career, and even though he had been arrested for DUI and tested positive for cocaine, this was the major incident that began his downfall.
Police on the scene say Jones returned to the scene only to retrieve cash from his totaled vehicle, showing zero regards for the pregnant woman he injured while leaving drug paraphernalia, condoms, and identifying paperwork in the vehicle.
Jones pled guilty in 2015 and received 18 months probation.
For a sport desperately trying to assert its mainstream status, this black eye never fully healed, and the reputation of the UFC came under the same scrutiny that Jones had received.
