Daniel Cormier offers title shot to Volkan Oezdemir, who immediately accepts
By Mike Heck
Daniel Cormier seems ready to move ahead as the UFC light heavyweight champion and has chosen his next challenger in Volkan Oezdemir.
It has been quite the road for Daniel Cormier throughout the summer of 2017.
Between being finished by Jon Jones at UFC 214 to lose the UFC light heavyweight championship, to Jones testing positive for steroids, to once again being thrust into the championship spotlight, Cormier has continuously carried himself like a champion.
A perfect example of that took place on Thursday when Cormier took to Twitter to offer the surging Volkan Oezdemir the next crack at the light heavyweight title.
@volkan_oezdemir I asked and people wanna see u and I scrap. So you got it man! Let me figure a date now. They chose u bud! Congrats
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) September 28, 2017
While many people expected Cormier to potentially face Alexander Gustafsson in a rematch of their exciting headliner at UFC 192 in October 2015, or have Gustafsson fight Oezdemir in a title eliminator, “DC” decided to expedite the proceedings. As expected, Oezdemir responded to the challenge from Cormier in a positive fashion.
@dc_mma you are a real champ! I'm glad they chose me. Fans are always right ! #fromnowheretothebelt #history #notime #blessed&honored pic.twitter.com/eo7UNw1eMJ
— Volkan Oezdemir (@volkan_oezdemir) September 28, 2017
Oezdemir came into the UFC earlier this year and has had a meteoric rise up the organization’s 205-pound division. After defeating Ovince St. Preux in his short notice debut by split-decision back in February, Oezdemir would finish Misha Cirkunov three months later and then do the same to Jimi Manuwa at UFC 214 in July in a combined 50-seconds. The 28-year-old from Switzerland has won his last five fights and could be in a prime position to capture UFC gold if he can up it to six.
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Cormier has only suffered two losses in his career, both to Jon Jones. “DC” captured the UFC light heavyweight title when he defeated Anthony Johnson in a vacant title main event at UFC 187 in May 2015. He went on to defend the title against Gustafsson, in a rematch with Johnson back in April, which Cormier won by second-round submission, and a unanimous decision, non-title fight, victory over Anderson Silva in between. With a division seemingly always looking for a fresh coat of paint, a title fight between Cormier and Oezdemir would certainly fit that criteria.