Volkan Oezdemir sees UFC title potential in Jiri Prochazka, hopes to rematch him for gold someday

Volkan Oezdemir thinks the hype surrounding Jiri Prochazka is warranted, and he wouldn’t be surprised if he became UFC champion.

Never shying away from a tough fight, Oezdemir (17-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) was the one to welcome the former Rizin FF champion to the octagon and after a solid Round 1 in their UFC 251 battle, Oezdemir was stopped by Prochazka in the opening minute of the second round.

“I’m not gonna say anything went wrong, because that’s just what happened,” Oezdemir told MMA Junkie on his past loss to Prochazka. “I just lost attention and from there obviously there’s different stuff that I chose that wasn’t the best option. But if I have to re-do the fight, we can do a lot of stuff differently. This isn’t a problem. It’s now in the past. I know what I have to correct. I know also what went wrong in the second round.”

Prochazka (28-3-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) went on to score another highlight-reel finish over former title challenger Dominick Reyes and now finds himself as the backup for the light heavyweight title fight between champion Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira on Oct. 30 at UFC 267.

Having been in there with Prochazka, Oezdemir sees gold in “Denisa’s” future, and he’d like nothing more than the chance to avenge his loss to him in a title fight.

“That is actually something that is really good,” Oezdemir said. “Story wise, first of all, and I think this is the guy that has the tools to be champion, as well. He is not somebody to take lightly. This guy is really tough, and if he gets the opportunity to fight for the title, I’m gonna give a lot of chance on his side.”

Just two fights in, Prochazka has taken the light heavyweight division by storm. No stranger to a fast rise himself, former title challenger Oezdemir understands why Prochazka has been getting the promotional push from the UFC.

“I think he’s really interesting,” Oezdemir said. “He’s bringing something different to the game. Just his character, his face and his approach, the way he moves. Obviously a guy like that will get pushed anyway, but he also deserves it. Let’s not forget about that. He’s been ranked internationally – not the UFC’s rankings but all-around rankings, so he’s kind of always been there. Fighting tough fights, a lot of fights, a lot of victories and now two top 10 in a row and two former title challengers, so obviously this is a statement by itself.”

Oezdemir will return to action for the first time since losing to Prochazka in July 2020 when he takes on streaking contender Magomed Ankalaev to open up the UFC 267 main card in Abu Dhabi.