Oezdemir rules out easy fight against Shogun: 'He's not afraid of anything'

V. Oezdemir comments on the fight against Shogun (Photo: Reproduction Facebook Volkan oezdemir)

Volkan oezdemir returns to the Octagon at UFC Chile, May 19th, to face the Brazilian Mauricio Shogun. After competing for the light heavyweight belt in January, the Swiss will face 'only' 7th place in the weight rankings. However, anyone who thinks 'No Time' is mistaken sees the Paraná native as an easy challenge.

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Although Shogun has only had one fight per year since 2015, the Brazilian's good recent record, combined with the former light heavyweight champion's entire history, makes Oezdemir consider the challenge against his rival.

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“Shogun is still Shogun. He has been in several battles, he is not afraid of anything. He's still a dangerous fighter, definitely. Since I signed with the UFC, my manager always asks me: 'Who do you want to face?'. The one guy I always say is Shogun, because he's the one I grew up watching. I started watching Pride, and he was the man at the time, one of my favorite fighters. It’s incredible to face someone you were looking for”, declared Oezdemir, in an interview with the program The MMA Hour.

Shogun comes from three consecutive victories, with close decisions over Corey anderson e Rogério Minotouro and a technical knockout over the unimpressive Gian Villante. Even with the good moment, he is considered a big underdog for the fight with odds of 5 to 1. The great odds make Oezdemir the favorite for the first time in his career in the UFC. Despite this, the Swiss is not excited that it will be an easy fight.

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“I believe this is the first time I've been the favorite in my UFC career, that's great. It's actually really nice to face a legend like Shogun and be called the favorite, when in all my fights I was the underdog, I was 5 to 1 or something like that. This is incredible and means I have paved my place in the division. Now people take me seriously and know what I'm capable of. Shogun is the guy with the most wins in the division, so it's a good deal. He’s closer to the belt than I am, which makes the fight make sense to me,” he added.

UFC Chile

In addition to Shogun, a real Brazilian squad is scheduled for UFC Chile: Vincent Luque faces Chad Laprise; Poliana Botelho faces off against Syuri Kondo; Michel Trator will face Zak Cummings, while Felipe Silva measures forces against Claudio Puelles placeholder image. The main fight of the night features the Argentine Santiago Ponzinibbio against the Nigerian Kamaru Usman. Check out the show card so far below:

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