Volkan Oezdemir didn’t think he would be off for this long after his last fight.
Back at UFC 251 last July, Oezdemir suffered a KO loss to Jiri Prochazka and since then, he has not been able to fight due to a variety of different reasons. However, he will finally make his return on the main card of UFC 267 against Magomed Ankalaev.
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“It is really annoying, this COVID situation was not the best for me. I had a lot of postponed fights, one canceled fight, and it has been tough to get back on track,” Oezdemir said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “Finally, here I am ready to fight on October 30 against Magomed Ankalaev.”
Against Ankalaev, Oezdemir is expecting it to be a standup fight. He knows the Russian will be looking for the KO, but he knows if he gets right into Ankalaev’s face, he could frustrate him.
Although Volkan Oezdemir is known for his KO power as well, he says in the 15 months he has been off, he has been improving his all-around skills. With that, he says he plans to showcase some new things on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
“He is a patient fighter and he goes for the knockout. He likes to keep it too clean and technical all the time, so I’m going to bring it to him,” Oezdemir explained. “There is nothing different here from what I want to do. I want to go in there and knock him out. But, I want to show everything I have been working on because there is a lot of stuff I have changed. I want to showcase some new things.”
The Swiss native in Oezdemir also knows if he gets a big KO over Ankalaev it will put his name right back in the mix for a top contender.
“You need to be in the talk, in the news. There has to be some activity, I’m a guy who doesn’t talk much outside of fighting so I have to produce it when I’m in there,” Oezdemir said. “With COVID happening, it has been quiet for me. I just have to go in there and showcase my skills, get a big knockout and let that do all the talking.”
One name Volkan Oezdemir has in mind is Aleksandar Rakic. The two fought back in December of 2019 where Oezdemir won a very close split decision. Since then, Rakic has said it was a robbery so the Swiss native wants to rematch him so he can shut him up once again.
“Rakic, I don’t know what’s happening with him. He is trying to always find the easy fights, and I have heard he has turned down Jiri a few times and now wants to fight Smith again. I don’t understand why he would say yes to that,” Oezdemir said. “The division is pretty interesting right now. I’m really interested in that fight because I want to shut his mouth as he has been talking a lot and talking too much. That is a fight I want to have again.”
Do you think Volkan Oezdemir will KO Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 267?