Rivalries: Volkan Oezdemir

While Volkan Oezdemir has likely already peaked at this stage of his career, he remains a Top 10 contender in the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight division.

The Swiss kickboxer will enter his 2023 campaign on the heels of three losses in four appearances. Oezdemir, 33, last competed on Oct. 22, when he dropped a unanimous decision to former Fight Nights Global champion Nikita Krylov as part of the UFC 280 undercard. The aptly named “No Time” sports seven sub-minute finishes on his resume, highlighted by lightning-strike knockouts of Misha Cirkunov and Jimi Manuwa in 2017.

As Oezdemir awaits word on his next assignment from UFC matchmakers, a look at a few of the rivalries that have helped chart his course to this point:

Kelly Anundson

American Top Team’s Anundson submitted the previously unbeaten Oezdemir with a neck crank in the second round of their Bellator 115 light heavyweight showcase on April 4, 2014 at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada. Festivities were brought to a halt 3:19 into Round 2. A three-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Newberry College in South Carolina, Anundson overwhelmed the Swiss prospect with relentless pace and determination. He delivered seven takedowns in the first round alone, suffocating Oezdemir in close quarters. In the middle stanza, Anundson grounded his counterpart yet again, transitioned to his back and locked in the fight-ending crank.

Ovince St. Preux

Oezdemir refused to play the role of wide-eyed Octagon rookie and made the most of his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut when he upset “OSP” by split decision in a UFC Fight Night 104 light heavyweight feature on Feb. 4, 2017 at the Toyota Center in Houston. All three judges struck 29-28 scorecards: J.J. Ferraro and Joe Soliz for Oezdemir, Sal D’Amato for St. Preux. A short-notice fill-in for the injured Jan Blachowicz, Oezdemir set the tone with an aggressive first round. He chewed up the inside of St. Preux’s lead leg with kicks and backed him to the fence with heavy punching bursts. Oezdemir’s pace slowed in Round 2, but he remained committed to his assault on the former University of Tennessee football player’s lower extremities. St. Preux made his move in the third, where he pressed forward with body-head punching combinations. He had Oezdemir teetering on the brink with a blistering volley of punches in the closing seconds but could not force the stoppage he needed and left his fate in the hands of the judiciary.

Daniel Cormier

The American Kickboxing Academy star retained his undisputed light heavyweight championship and did so in one-sided fashion when he disposed of Oezdemir with punches in the second round of their UFC 220 co-main event on Jan. 20, 2018 at the TD Garden in Boston. The stoppage was called 2:00 into Round 2. Cormier withstood an early assault from the aggressive Swiss upstart, slowed the pace and cracked him with a left hook that resulted in significant damage to the Henri Hooft understudy’s right eye. He followed with a takedown, advanced immediately to Oezdemir’s back and cinched a rear-naked choke in the closing seconds. The bell saved the challenger but only prolonged the inevitable. Cormier struck for another takedown in Round 2, moved to the mounted crucifix and cut loose with short punches until referee Kevin McDonald had seen enough. The setback was Oezdemir’s first in nearly four years.

Dominick Reyes

“The Devastator” pushed his record to 11-0 and used Oezdemir as a steppingstone to an eventual title shot against Jon Jones, as he eked out a contentious split decision in their featured UFC Fight Night 147 attraction on March 16, 2019 at the O2 Arena in London. All three members of the cageside judiciary scored it 29-28: Andy Roberts for Oezdemir, Mark Collett and Paul Sutherland for Reyes. Oezdemir forced the Joe Stevenson protégé to fight off of his back foot with relentless forward pressure and strong punching combinations. Reyes, meanwhile, focused his attack on the body, head and legs, kept his composure under duress and capitalized when the Swiss standout seemed to dial down his aggression in the third round. He outlanded Oezdemir by a narrow 34-23 margin in significant strikes across the final 10 minutes and denied all six of his attempted takedowns.

Aleksandar Rakic

Oezdemir curried the requisite favor on the scorecards with a stellar third round and escaped with a controversial split verdict over Aleksandar Rakic in the UFC Fight Night 165 co-headliner on Dec. 21, 2019 at Sajik Arena in Busan, South Korea. All three judges saw it 29-28: Evan Field for Rakic, Mark Collett and Anthony Dimitriou for Oezdemir. Rakic landed the more consequential strikes, secured the fight’s only takedown and made a pass at a guillotine choke in the first round. Oezdemir made his case in the third, where he connected on 57 total strikes, absorbed only 35 in return and turned away all three of his opponent’s bids for takedowns, handing the 6-foot-5 Austrian his first defeat in more than eight years.