Just days after the arrest of light heavyweight contender Volkan Oezdemir over the weekend, UFC champion Daniel Cormier may need to consider alternative plans for his next title defense.
Oezdemir (15-1) had appeared on the verge of getting a shot at Cormier (19-1), potentially as early as UFC 220 on Jan. 20 in Boston. But legal issues could get in the way after the native of Switzerland was arrested Saturday on felony assault charges dating back to an Aug. 12 bar brawl in Florida which left a victim needing staples and treatment for a concussion.
Cormier, who lost to Jon Jones in their UFC 214 rematch only to be reinstated as champion after Jones failed a drug test, revealed a back-up plan on Monday should that be the case. As a guest on "The Anik & Florian" podcast, the 38-year-old said he'd gladly defend against Alexander Gustafsson or Ovince Saint Preux instead.
"Of course, I'd fight any of these guys. It doesn't matter," Cormeir said. "[Oezdemir] is on the longest win streak in the division so he was getting the title shot but if this trouble is gonna keep him out of the opportunity, I'll just go to the next guy. So of course I'd fight Gustafsson and someone told me yesterday that Team Ovince Saint Preux was like, 'We want a title fight because we've got a good winning streak too.' Whoever is winning gets the title shot, that's just the way it is. I don't care who it is."
Oezdemir is 5-0 since his lone defeat to Kelly Anundson at Bellator 115 in 2014. He made his UFC debut in February by taking a split decision from Saint Preux and followed it up with convincing knockouts in less than a minute against Misha Cirkunov and Jimi Manuwa over the past six months.
"It's tough to be going through this type of thing, especially at this time when you're on the cusp of your biggest moment of your career," Cormier said. "I don't know what happened. You've got to not be doing things that are wrong or put yourself in these situations where stuff can go sideways. You've got to try to stay out of those positions.
"Maybe it was self-defense but because he is who he is, it's much worse because he has the ability to sleep dudes that are trying to hit him. You never know what's happening but even these run-ins, they're really unneeded, especially when you're a young guy as Volkan is and you're on the cusp of something so big for the first time in your career."
Cormier has publicly pushed for the Oezdemir fight in recent months and hasn't backed down from exchanging trash talk. In early November, he told media members in New York ahead of UFC 217 that Oezdemir is "something new, something different" and has intimated publicly that Gustafsson might not be ready at this time for a rematch.
At UFC 192, Cormier outlasted Gustafsson (18-4) by split decision in one of 2015's best fights.
"I've been waiting for the final go ahead," Cormier said. "Obviously this throws a wrench into those plans, when we see what happens to Oezdemir. It's kind of all fluid right now because we've got to see what happens with this guy. Alexander Gustafsson was never gonna be right now anyway, I think he may be dealing with some things. If it has to be him then I guess the fight will be a little bit later in the year, but I'd love to compete in Boston."
Gustafsson, 30, bounced back from a string of three defeats in four fights by winning his past two -- a decision over Jan Blachowicz in 2016 and a fifth-round KO of Glover Teixeira in May.
Saint Preux (22-10) came up short in challenging Jones for the interim championship in 2016, but the 34-year-old has bounced back nicely from a similar slide to win his last three, all by stoppage, over the past seven months.
While Oezdemir certainly brings scary power into a potential title shot, it's hard to argue that he's completely deserving of the chance, even with the lack of depth at 205 pounds. It has largely been Cormier who has pushed for the fight.
Considering how close Gustafsson has come in his two shots at the title, a rematch with Cormier makes a ton of sense. It's also a much more sexy matchup with a backstory.
