Today’s UFC Busan event is co-headlined by a light heavyweight matchup featuring Volkan Oezdemir taking on Alexander Rakic.
Oezdemir (16-4 MMA) recently put an end to his three-fight losing skid in August by scoring a second round knockout victory over Ilir Latifi. ‘No Time’ has gone 4-3 thus far in his UFC career, scoring highlight reel knockout wins over Jimi Manuwa and Misha Cirkunov during that stretch.
As for Rakic (12-1 MMA), the Austrian fighter was last seen in action at June’s UFC event in Stockholm, where he scored a first round knockout victory over Jimi Manuwa. Rakic has gone 4-0 since joining the UFC ranks in September of 2017.
Tonight’s co-headliner proved to be a back and forth affair. Both Oezdemir and Rakic seemingly moved like middleweights while throwing heavyweight-like power shots throughout the fifteen minute fight. After three very competitive rounds of action the fight went to the judges scorecards for decision. In the end, ‘No Time’ was awarded a split-decision victory over his Austrian opponent.
Official UFC Busan Result: Volkan Oezdemir def. Alexander Rakic by split decision
Check out what Oezdemir had to say about tonight’s victory over Rakic below:
"My goal is to read what's going to happen in fights and become victorious"
~@Volkan_Oezdemir talks about making adjustments in his hard-fought victory in the co-main of #UFCBusan pic.twitter.com/VY9E1z28wc
advertisement – continue reading below— UFC News (@UFCNews) December 21, 2019
“I never come into a fight and expect stuff. I just expect to become victorious. The fight is going to go anyway,” Oezdemir proclaimed. “My goal is to read what is going to happen in fights and become victorious at the end of the day. The thing is this went the opposite way of the Reyes fight. You know the (Dominick) Reyes fight, the first two rounds I was really clearly the winner and then the last round my cardio went down a little bit you know. That is when he utilized not power but more volume. This was exactly the opposite in this fight. The more the fight was going, the more it was becoming my fight.”
Oezdemir went on to suggest that his body shots had a big role in today’s win over Rakic.
Who would you like to see Volkan Oezdemir fight next following his split decision victory over Alexander Rakic at today’s UFC Busan event? Sound off in the comments section PENN Nation!
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com December 21, 2019