Volkan Oezdemir Reacts To Submission Loss At UFC Moncton

Former light heavyweight title contender Volkan Oezdemir threw down in a bloody slugfest with Anthony Smith (highlights here) in the main event of last night’s (Sat., October 27, 2018) UFC Moncton from New Brunswick, Canada.

It was a disheartening loss after Oezdemir had spent almost all of the year on the sidelines due to injury. That came after he lost his only fight of the year against current champion Daniel Cormier. Oezdemir also had many moments early on, landing some big punches and low kicks. His best moment came in the second when he took Smith’s back and controlled “Lionheart.”

But it turned around in the third when Smith ground “No Time.” He took Oezdemir’s back and locked in a fight-ending rear-naked choke for a thrilling come-from-behind win. Although Oezdemir was bloodied and beaten, he remained humble in defeat. Speaking on the FOX Sports-aired post-fight show Oezdemir said he was trying to take things easier than he did in the loss to Cormier.

That all went out the window, however, when he got hit on the nose. It re-broke for the third time this year:

“I wanted to take my time for once. I learned a lot from my last fight. And I wanted to pace a little bit. And I just wanted to take my time and lead my fight. I wanted to feel it and work my fight. But then I got caught on the nose.

“My nose broke twice this year in training camp twice in a row. And now I guess it was a little bit too soon for me to take that fight because my nose broke one more time.”

Oezdemir detailed when the injury initially happened and reoccurred. He also admitted he may not have been ready to get in the Octagon because he hadn’t sparred hard. he did begin sparring, but still wasn’t ready:

“The first time was while I was getting ready for Shogun. And then as soon as, when the fight switched to Gustafsson I broke my nose two weeks before also. So my nose wasn’t ready.

“And then I thought it was okay but I didn’t really spar too hard; I was just doing some move around. Then last two weeks, I start my sparring again, but I guess it wasn’t strong enough for a fight.”

He closed by saying that he wanted to show off his mat skills in addition to his feared stand-up. For a round he did, yet he still deemed it a mistake by him. But Oezdemir blamed no one and said he would be back:

“I wanted to take his back also. I wanted to submit him. As I said, I wanted to play it safe also. But I wasn’t being true to myself, as soon as I feel weakness, you know, I go for it. And I think that was a mistake from me, but I will definitely learn from it.”