It hasn’t taken long for Volkan Oezdemir to establish himself among the top light heavyweight talents in the UFC. The 28-year-old Swiss only made his debut last February but in just three Octagon performances, Oezdemir looks to have secured himself an opportunity to win the title from the once again champion, Daniel Cormier.
And much like his career thus far, he doesn’t think it will take very long.
Oezdemir has earned the nickname ‘No Time’ owing to the impressive brevity in which his results come. After debuting with a split decision win against Ovince St. Preux, Oezdemir needed just a combined one minute and ten seconds to defeat both Misha Cirkunov and Jimi Manuwa and, as he said to Ariel Helwani on a recent episode of The MMA Hour, he intends to keep making quick work of his opposition.
Even if his next dance partner is Daniel Cormier.
While not yet confirmed, all signs seem to be pointing to a clash between Oezdemir and the tw0-time UFC champion. Cormier posted a poll on social media in which he asked fans who they would like to see him fight next — and Oezdemir appeared at its summit.
@volkan_oezdemir I asked and people wanna see u and I scrap. So you got it man! Let me figure a date now. They chose u bud! Congrats
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) September 28, 2017
“That was something huge,” Oezdemir explained to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting. “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 mans 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.”
When asked how he saw a fight with Cormier concluding, Oezdemir said that it would take probably double the duration of his last two fights.
“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.”
