Tag: Volkan Oezdemir

Earlier this morning UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier called out former title contender Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson for supposedly coming out of the retirement he announced after Cormier submitted him at April’s UFC 210.

The victory, which was ‘DC’s’ second rear-naked choke win over ‘Rumble’ after he first won the belt by submitting him at 2015’s UFC 187, prompted the feared knockout artist to leave mixed martial arts behind for a reportedly much more safe and lucrative business venture.

But ‘Rumble’s’ manager Ali Abdelaziz recently revealed the hulking striker was in talks with the UFC for a potential return at heavyweight, prompting ‘DC’ to scoff at the length of his retirement in addition to his supposedly friendly demeanor towards disgraced former champion Jon Jones, who, of course, beat Cormier for the title at July 29’s UFC 214 with a third-round knockout but had the belt stripped away yet again after he tested positive for anabolic steroid Turinabol.

‘Rumble’ wasted no time responding to his former foe on Facebook today, claiming Cormier was ‘salty’ because he talked to Jones, with whom he wasn’t necessarily friends with, but simply showed respect towards:

“Damn D.C. didn’t know you were salty cuz I talk to the 1 guy that knocked you out. Fucking soft is what you called me, oh well that’s your opinion.
Saying I gave Jon advice lol buddy what advice is there to give him? I wasn’t fighting either one of you, so there’s no point of giving advice. That’s not my style! I believe in fair fights period.
Friend’s? We were NEVER friend’s! I’ve respected every man in the sport no matter what. I’ve shown JBJ respect through his tough times and have shown you respect the same way.”

Johnson briefly explained his retirement before crying Cormier a ‘cry baby’ and offering him the stance he was lucky to have retained the belt by Jones’ mistake:

“I retired cuz I have other thing’s in life I want to do but just cuz I met with UFC and talked you have an issue.

“So take your cry baby ass on and praise God that Jon screwed up and you got the belt back that way! “

It’s true Cormier cried when he was in a hysterical state following the knockout loss to Jones, yet it’s also difficult to criticize him for that after it became public knowledge that Jones was once again on banned substances, regardless of his former greatness or record, and it’s even more difficult to blast a man whom defeated you twice via stoppage.

However, ‘Rumble’ had Cormier on the ropes with his earth-shaking power in both fights as well. If that’s enough to book them in a rematch at some point down the line remains to be seen.

One thing is certain: in today’s uncertain UFC landscape, you can never count anything out. Especially anything that draws eyeballs.

The post Rumble Reacts To DC’s Retirement Trash Talk appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Streaking UFC light heavyweight Volkan Oezdemir recently won the sweepstakes for the next title shot at reinstated champion Daniel Cormier’s belt, and when he gets it, he’s predicting a quick and brutal finish.

The Swiss knockout artist, who has risen from relatively unknown status to that of a top-ranked UFC title contender in a mere eight months, recently appeared on “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani to discuss his perceived upcoming title shot, which he got when Cormier took a poll online.

“No Time” expressed his gratitude towards the fans who voted him in before noting that while 2017 had obviously been a great year, 2018 was going to be even better:

“Of course I was looking at it really closely. That was something huge. I’m really humbled. Cormier is somebody I respect a lot. The fact that he called me out, made a poll and his fans wanted me – that’s something that means even more to me.

“If the fans choose me, it means a lot to me. I’m really happy with everything that’s happening right now. The year 2017 is a great year for me and 2018 is going to be even better for sure.”

While Oezdemir appears to have the title shot locked down based on what Cormier has told him, he acknowledged that the UFC had not yet booked the fight so he was now focused on promoting it:

“Yeah, we’re going to talk soon, but right now we are trying to promote the fight more. That fight is definitely going to happen. I want it for sure and I understand Cormier wants it also.”

Finally, Oezdemir gave his prediction for the high-profile bout, and it was not surprisingly one which ends in a knockout loss for Cormier, who most recently lost the belt to Jon Jones via third-round head kick knockout at UFC 214 before having it returned when Jones tested positive for anabolic steroid:

“It’s not going to be the best situation for him because I’ve got knockout power, that’s for sure. I hope his brain recovered well. I’m going to bring the heat.

“I think in the first two minutes, that’s my goal anyway. I’m going to make all of my training so I will be able to knock him out. I have no time for this. I don’t want to get injured, I’m just going to knock him out really fast.”

The post Volkan Oezdemir Makes Bold Prediction For Daniel Cormier Title Bout appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.