Interview with UFC light heavyweight star Volkan Oezdemir

Twelve months ago, 70% of people reading this probably didn’t even know Volkan Oezdemir’s name. At the very least they could’ve guessed that he was a rising mixed martial artist, but nobody could’ve anticipated just how quickly he’d shoot to the top of the light heavyweight division.

The 28-year-old hasn’t even moved into the prime of his career yet and despite that, he’s already got a championship UFC fight under his belt. Sure, things didn’t quite go his way, but you either win or you learn and Volkan is certainly ready to make an impact on his road back to the title.

“I was really looking forward to going back on the mat and training, but I got a staph infection which was pretty bad. I had to stay away from training, but still, now I’m back and it’s all about improving right now. On to the next one.”

We here at Sportskeeda, in association with MMA Today, spoke with the Swiss superstar recently in one of his first interviews since competing for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship at UFC 220 in Boston.

It was a fascinating interview and throughout the course of it, we got the sense that Oezdemir has already begun the process of strengthening his game to the point where nobody in the division can touch him. However, aside from that, we also found out some interesting things about ‘No Time’ as a person.

“MMA is developing really fast back home. Last year was a big year for the sport in my country, and we also have a lot of events which are getting more and more professional. I would love to help bring a lot of these fighters to the UFC.”

He enjoys hiking in his spare time away from the cage, and if he wasn’t such a high-level MMA athlete, he’d be interested in exploring the possibility of becoming a historian.

These are just a few tidbits from the fascinating life of Oezdemir, and as time goes on, we’ll likely continue to see more and more of his personality shine through as he attempts to become one of the biggest stars in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“If I had to choose somebody it would be Gustafsson. I wanted to fight him a long time ago and it never happened. He’s the number one, so that would be a great fight.”

In terms of the future, he has his sights firmly set on the top contenders at light heavyweight, as he realises he’ll have to put in the grind necessary to earn a trip back to the top.

With that mentality being at the forefront of his mind, it should come as no surprise that he wants to stand across the octagon from none other than Alexander Gustafsson. These two men would put on a guaranteed classic for the fans in attendance, and later this year, we could well see it.