Volkan Oezdemir is back in action the the main event of UFC Fight Night Moncton, facing Anthony Smith in that headlining affair.
A returning Oezdemir hasn’t fought since a loss to two division UFC champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 220, but the loss gave the fighter a chance to put things into perspective.
“You think about everything that happened different because its a loss, you must always learn something…always improve. (It is) about getting better all of the time, a loss definitely puts things into perspective. That’s when you have to reassess…going back to the drawing board and see everything, think about everything you can do better and maybe think about a new way of improving things. That’s exactly what I did and I’m feeling really great and really happy about all the experience that I got into me,” says Oezdemir in an exclusive interview with Fightful’s James Lynch.
Oezdemir had won three straight before that loss at UFC 220 and the only other professional MMA defeat in his career came to Kelly Anundson at Bellator 115.
Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones was just handed a fifteen month suspension from USADA that ends in late October, but Oezdemir feels that USADA frightens the lesser known fighters while staying away from the big name competitors.
“I don’t really know what to say, he’s not even my…its okay. With his history…I think its better for me to wait to know what happened, how he got his suspension reduced before talking. I wanna see if he has done anything right, but I don’t like the facts and that USADA is letting people go right now. Most champions fight once a year anyway or they wanna take time off, they’re going to say something about injury or any good excuses. If your having a problem with USADA at the end of the day, your name is clear and its been a year or whatever, then you come back…its like a slap in the face. I think whenever you have the money to afford time off or for lawyers and that kind of stuff, then you don’t really care and I think you’re not going to stop cheating or doing anything else…anything bad. I think that’s the reason USADA is here, keeping everybody healthy…but keeping everybody on the same ground, same level. Nobody can have a substance that can make them better, make them train harder or longer than anybody else. USADA is good because I think they made everybody else frightened, but not the big names that have the money…I guess,” says Oezdemir.
UFC Fight Night Moncton takes place on Saturday, October 27 from the Moncton Events Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada with Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on Fox Sports 1.
