What Volkan Oezdemir has done in a single year is pretty remarkable. It’s hard to believe he just debuted with the UFC back in February. Since then, he’s stacked together three straight wins, two knockouts, and earned a light heavyweight title shot against Daniel Cormier in January for UFC 220. If there is one person who knows about accomplishments, it’s Conor McGregor. Just take a look at what he’s done since his Jose Aldo fight. Oezdemir gave the UFC’s only Champ Champ some praise and asked him if he could pick his brain in the gym, to which McGregor obliged.
“Hey Conor [McGregor], how are you? This is Volkan [Oezdemir]. I hope everything is well wiith you. First of all, I wanted to congratulate you on everything you’ve accomplished so far. It is amazing. Nobody has ever done that before. They told me to ask you a few questions, but I have only one request. What do you think if next time I go to Switzerland, I stop by Dublin so we can share the mat together [and] share some knowledge about fighting, because I love your philosophy of fighting.” — Volkan Oezdemir speaking to Takedown by Gentside.
The one. The only. The champ champ.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 9, 2017
“Is this the light heavyweight? Yeah, [Volkan Oezdemir]’s the light heavyweight. He’s currently the number one contender, right? Yeah, that’s brilliant. Yeah, of course he can come by and we can train no problem. That’s brilliant.” — Conor McGregor responding to Volkan Oezdemir.
Volkan Oezdemir and Conor McGregor over at Straight Blast Gym? Coach John Kavanagh has to be happy thinking about that. If this goes down, it most likely will happen after the fight with Daniel Cormier, but it’s still pretty awesome to talk about. The only thing bigger than this potential partnership is the up-coming bout at UFC 220 in Boston. If Oezdemir manages to capture the light heavyweight title away from Cormier, it would be huge. McGregor would definitely want to work with the new champ after that. …Although it could put his eye on yet another belt. Just joking of course, but who knows with Conor McGregor.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 12/13/2017.