Tag: Volkan Oezdemir

Volkan Oezdemir Destroyed Anthony Smith’s UFC Sao Paulo Suggestion

Volkan Oezdemir has “No Time” for Anthony Smith’s other plans.

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Volkan Oezdemir destroyed Anthony Smith’s offer to fill in for Glover Teixeira.

Teixeira was ruled out of his UFC Sao Paulo headliner with Jimi Nanuwa last night. He could require surgery due to a shoulder injury. The former title contender is out for an indefinite amount of time as a result.

Streaking contender Anthony Smith soon offered to fill in for Teixeira and face Manuwa:

No. 2 LHW Volkan Oezdemir took offense to the suggestion because of the fact he’s supposed to fight “Lionheart” in the main event of October’s UFC Moncton.

“No Time” took to social media to voice his displeasure. The former title contender put it in simple terms as well:

UFC Sao Paulo will take place on September 22, 2018. The UFC is currently looking for a replacement opponent to fight Manuwa. The British slugger reportedly already turned down a fight with Brazilian middleweight Thiago Santos.

Oezdemir will meet Smith in the main event of UFC Moncton slightly over a month later on October 27, 2018. Oezdemir has been out of action since he lost a title bid to current champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 220 this January. A broken nose forced him out of a scheduled fight with top contender Alexander Gustafsson at August 4’s UFC 227.

Meanwhile, Smith has been on a tear, knocking out former champions Rashad Evans and Shogun Rua in his last two fights.

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Report: ‘Serious’ Injury Kept Alexander Gustafsson Off UFC 227

Alexander Gustafsson’s injury was more serious than initially revealed.

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The injury that kept Alexander Gustafsson off last weekend’s UFC 227 was apparently more serious than first revealed.

“The Mauler’s” original opponent Volkan Oezdemir pulled out of their scheduled main card bout. Anthony Smith soon knocked out Shogun Rua in Hamburg and immediately called out Gustafsson as a late replacement.

Gustafsson was forced out with a ‘minor’ undisclosed injury shortly thereafter, however. More than a bit of speculation arose based on the timing.

UFC President Dana White recently refuted those claims. Speaking on “The Mauler” during the ‘UFC Unfiltered’ podcast (via MMAjunkie), White said Gustafsson was seriously hurt:

“It wasn’t a minor injury; he actually had a serious injury to his hamstring. He doesn’t have to do surgery. He’s doing physical therapy, and we’re hoping he can come back before the end of the year. He was hurt, a legitimate injury, and he’s working on it. We’re trying to get him in before the end of the year.”

Gustafsson has long campaigned for a rematch with UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. The two met in a classic five-round war in 2015, where Cormier emerged with a narrow split decision win.

His main goal is an understandable one with Cormier set to retire next year. Gustafsson has been out of action since a thrilling fifth-round knockout of Glover Teixeira in May 2017 and has never been the most consistent of fighters.

Gustafsson is obviously recovering from a significant injury, but one thing he has going for him is that Cormier is injured too.

Time will tell if “The Mauler” receives the title shot he’s been angling for.

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Anthony Smith Meets Volkan Oezdemir In Upcoming UFC Main Event

Anthony Smith will face Volkan Oezdemir in an upcoming UFC main event this fall.

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UFC Moncton has their main event.

Fast-rising light heavyweights Anthony Smith (30-13) will throw down with hard-hitting Volkan Oezdemir (15-2) on October 27, 2018, in a possible title eliminator of sorts.

Since moving up from middleweight to light heavyweight Smith has run rough shot over UFC mainstays Rashad Evans and Shogun Rua. “Lionheart” looks to make it a perfect 3-0 in the 205-pound division in 2018 thus earning him a title shot early next year.

Oezdemir, however, hasn’t fought since losing to Daniel Cormier back at UFC 220 in January of this year. “No Time” was forced to pull out of his fights with Shogun Rua and Alexander Gustafsson in the last few months due to nagging injuries.

This is the first fight announced for the UFC Fight Night card set to take place at the Moncton Events Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.

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Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith to Headline UFC Moncton

Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith are moving on from Alexander Gustafsson and will now find one another in the middle of the Octagon in Canada at UFC Moncton. The UFC announced the bout today via social media. Both Oezdemir and Smith were hoping to fac…

Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith are moving on from Alexander Gustafsson and will now find one another in the middle of the Octagon in Canada at UFC Moncton. The UFC announced the bout today via social media. Both Oezdemir and Smith were hoping to face Gustafsson at UFC 227, when Oezdemir was forced to pull […]

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Anthony Smith Responds To Alexander Gustafsson’s UFC 227 Withdrawal

Anthony Smith discussed Alexander Gustafsson pulling out of UFC 227:

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Anthony Smith got his biggest win today, but he won’t be getting the fight he wants.

Following his first-round demolition of former champ Shogun Rua (highlights here) in the main event of today’s (Sun., July 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 134 from the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany, ‘Lionheart’ called out former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson for August 4’s UFC 227 after “The Mauler’s” original opponent Volkan Oezdemir pulled out last week.

However, news soon arrived that Gustafsson had been forced off of the August 4 event from Los Angeles due to an undisclosed injury, sparking speculation that the Swedish veteran simply didn’t want to face the lesser-known but increasingly more dangerous fighter in Smith.

At the UFC Hamburg post-fight presser, Smith reacted to the news by saying it was “mighty ironic” that Gustafsson was now off the card after he knocked out Rua:

“That’s ironic, isn’t it?” Smith told reporters. “That’s kind of weird how that works out. He needed an opponent yesterday. What happened between then and now? I don’t know. That’s mighty ironic. I think that I’m a hard guy to train for; I really do. I show up with a different product every time I fight.”

So with the Gustafsson fight on the cutting room floor now – and uncertain to ever materialize – Smith shifted focus to what his next fight may be. He noticed knockout artist Jimi Manuwa in the crowd at UFC Hamburg, so he tabbed the British “Poster Boy” as a potential foe in his pending rise:

“I’ve seen Jimi Manuwa out there – Jimi’s a great fighter,” Smith said. “He’s a hell of a striker, he’s powerful, and he’s ranked. He’s ranked pretty high in the division. I’m not 100 percent sure. I’ll let the UFC and my management figure that out. If it’s not Gustafsson, then I don’t know.”

Finally, with champion Daniel Cormier now injured and returning at heavyweight to fight Brock Lesnar in his next bout, the UFC light heavyweight title picture is an unclear one at best and an unmitigated mess at worse.

No one is sure if and when he’ll return to 205 pounds for one of final two fights, but Smith said he owed it to the rest of the division to clear that up soon:

“I think that’s the first step: We need to figure out if Cormier’s staying or going,” Smith said. “(UFC President) Dana (White) even said this before, ‘I think Daniel is an honorable man.’ It wouldn’t be very honorable to hold up the division. Because he knows right now. You guys can ask him 100 times, and he won’t tell you, but he knows if he’s coming back down or not. I think he needs to make that public so we can figure out what we’re all doing.”

“Lionheart” may have a good point, as Cormier most likely only has one fight left if he ever decides to undergo one final draining weight cut to 205 pounds.

No one would blame him if he didn’t, yet he does owe it to fighters like Smith and Gustafsson to let them know what they’re actually fighting for, and when they can win it. With Smith knocking out former champs left and right, you can see why.

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Alexander Gustafsson Out Of UFC 227 Due To Injury

Alexander Gustafsson was immediately declared off UFC 227 after Anthony Smith called him out.

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Alexander Gustafsson vs. Anthony Smith won’t be happening at August 4’s UFC 227.

After the rising “Lionheart” called Gustafsson out in the minutes after his dominant first-round knockout over Shogun Rua at today’s (July 22, 2018) UFC Hamburg, news broke on the post-fight show on FOX Sports 1 that “The Mauler” would not be fighting at UFC 227 due to an undisclosed injury. The Swedish contender was originally scheduled to fight Volkan Oezdemir at the Los Angeles Calif.-based card until the recent title challenger was forced out due to injury himself.

It’s curious timing from Gustafsson, who has been out of action since a fifth-round knockout win over Glover Teixeira last May. He’s been campaigning for a second shot at double champ Daniel Cormier, whom he fought to a close split decision loss three years back, even saying he would go as far as to move up to heavyweight to meet “DC.”

Gustafsson’s management subsequently released the following statement to MMAjunkie:

“Alex Gustafsson is out of UFC 227 with a minor injury,” the statement read. “The injury occurred last week. Since that time, we have been working closely with the UFC doctors, our doctors in Sweden, and the experts at the UFC Performance Institute. We have been advised that Alex has a minor injury, and he will not be permitted to compete at UFC 227. Had Alex been fit to fight, we were prepared to face (Khalil) Rountree or anyone else the UFC had asked us, including (Daniel) Cormier at heavyweight.

“Alex will be fighting again very soon. He will give his side of the story shortly. We don’t care who the opponent is. But whomever we face it should be for the meaningful result of the LHW UFC Title.”

Perhaps a fight with the surging Smith, who has brutally knocked out former champions Rua and Rashad Evens in his only two fights at light heavyweight, wasn’t such an appealing prospect for the already top-ranked Gustafsson. He may draw flack from fans for not accepting Smith’s callout, yet he stood little to gain other than a paycheck in facing a dangerous rising force.

For now, we’ll have to wait and see what “The Mauler’s” next move will be, yet Smith clearly isn’t in his plans. With a few more knockout wins over big names, however, he may not have the option for long.

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