Light heavyweight contender Volkan Oezdemir was arrested last month for aggravated battery with serious bodily injury in connection with a bar room brawl that he was allegedly involved in.
Despite the pending legal issues from the arrest, the fighter says it won’t detract from his upcoming title shot against Daniel Cormier at UFC 220.
“My focus anyway is on the title shot,” Oezdemir said on The MMA Hour. “I believe whatever is gonna be handled. Everything is gonna be handled the right way with this and it’s not gonna pose any problem.”
Oezdemir has had one of the fastest routes to a title shot in UFC history because UFC 220 will only be his fourth fight under the promotional banner.
When it comes to his pending legal issues, the fighter is heeding the advice of his legal team and is simply refusing to speak about them.
“Unfortunately, I can’t (speak about the legal issues), because it’s an ongoing investigation,” Oezdemir said. “My lawyer told me not to. That’s his job. My job is to fight, to be ready for the fight. And I’m thinking I’m doing a great job of that, because I’m feeling great. I’m ready to fight. Jan. 20 is gonna be huge.”
UFC 220 takes place on Saturday, January 20 from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts with Daniel Cormier and Volkan Oezdemir headlining. Fightfil is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
