Volkan Oezdemir is in the middle of a legal battle before he steps into the Octagon.
It’s well known by now that Oezdemir was arrested and charged with felony battery, which is a a third-degree felony, in Florida in November as a result of a bar fight in August of 2017 where Oezdemir allegedly hit an individual. Oezdemir was released on $10,000 bond.
The alleged incident went down at Capone in Fort Lauderdale and it was described by Oezdemir’s attorney, Bruce A. Zimet that it was a bar room altercation. He made it clear that his client was not the aggressor and was totally justified in his actions.
Cohen told police that he went outside after hearing a friend had been knocked unconscious following a verbal altercation with another man. Cohen told cops that he looked up and was hit in the face.
Cohen would go on to state that he lost consciousness for about 14 minutes and was taken to the hospital. This is where he was treated for concussion symptoms and given multiple staples for lacerations. People outside the bar told Cohen that it was Oezdemir that hit him.
Zimet told MMA Fighting on Tuesday that the contender’s felony battery trial has been pushed back to July 9 in Fort Lauderdale. Zimet said he expects the trial to last only several days and likely not longer than a week.
Oezdemir is looking to get back in the win column and on track to another title shot as he suffered a second-round TKO loss against Daniel Cormier at UFC 220 in January. He was expected to fight Shogun Rua at UFC Chile but now is slated to fight Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 227 on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles.
