Volkan Oezdemir speaks on falling to Anthony Smith via submission.
Oezdemir took on Smith last night (Oct. 27) in the main event of UFC Moncton. Despite having success in the first two rounds, Smith weathered the storm and kept returning fire. In the third round, Smith was able to lock up a rear-naked choke and forced “No Time” to tap.
Volkan Oezdemir Breaks Down Why He Lost
After the fight, Oezdemir spoke to reporters during his post-UFC Moncton scrum. Oezdemir said he feels he may have not been ready to return (via MMAJunkie.com):
“I broke my nose twice during the fight camp, and I guess I wasn’t ready for a fight, for a real blow. I felt confident. I felt good. I felt I won the first two rounds. The third round was going really well, but as soon as he took me down and started for the choke, I also felt some blood coming out in my throat, and he made me give up the fight, make me choke.”
Oezdemir was supposed to fight Alexander Gustafsson back in August. “No Time” suffered a broken nose during his training camp and the fight was called off. In the past, fighters have had lingering issues from a broken nose. Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald constantly deals with this problem in his fights. His nose was broken yet again in his last outing against Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi. It’ll be interesting to see if this will be a recurring issue for Oezdemir.
Do you think Volkan Oezdemir will rebound after suffering his second straight loss?
