Volkan caught in an altercation at a bar that seemed to put everything in jeopardy and arrested in Florida. After all the chaos, Volkan Oezdemir finally has his title shot. Daniel Cormier will defend his title against surging contender Volkan Oezdemir for a light heavyweight title. Both will clash at UFC 220 on January 20 in Boston.
UFC president Dana White assured us that the plan is still on and looks like it did work out.
Even Cormier made an official announcement about the fight himself on UFC Tonight. Fox sports PR executive also confirmed the news via Social Media.
And @UFCTonight begins now on @FS1 with @dc_mma confirming title fight vs. Volkan Oezdemir on Jan 20 at UFC 220 in Boston – Boom
— John Stouffer (@johnstouffer) November 29, 2017
Oezdemir made his debut UFC in 2017 against Ovince St. Preux at UFC Fight Night 104 and won the bout via split decision. Volkan shot to the top of the light heavyweight class in 2017 with three big wins, including a 28-second knockout JO of Misha Cirkunov, and then a 42-second knockout KO of Jimi Manuwa.
Daniel Cormier speaking on The Anik & Florian Podcast:
“I’ve been waiting for the final go ahead. Obviously, this throws a wrench into those plans, when we see what happens to Oezdemir. It’s kind of all fluid right now because we’ve got to see what happens with this guy. […] [Volkan Oezdemir] is on the longest win streak in the division, so he was getting the title shot, but if this trouble is gonna’ keep him out of the opportunity, I’ll just go to the next guy. So, of course, I’d fight Gustafsson, and someone told me yesterday that Team Ovince Saint Preux was like, ‘We want a title fight because we’ve got a good winning streak too.’ Whoever is winning gets the title shot, that’s just the way it is. I don’t care who it is.”
Volkan Oezdemir has gone on record saying he will knockout Cormier in the first round, while Daniel said keep dreaming.
Cormier last seen at UFC 214, where he lost the bout in the third round of his rematch with Jon “Bones” Jones. However, later “DC” was reinstated as 205-pound king due to Jones testing positive for Turinabol, the anabolic steroid after the fight.
Before that, DC successfully defended his title against Anthony Johnson and Alexander Gustafsson.
