Bengaluru, December 1: The UFC officially announced earlier in the week that Light Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will defend his belt against Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220 on January 20 in Boston.
Cormier had made it public that Oezdemir would be next is next opponent, but it was unclear how Oezdemir would overcome his issues with the law to book the potential fight.
BOSTON, here we come! @DC_MMA defends his belt against @Volkan_Oezdemir at #UFC220 | Jan. 20 @TDGarden!! pic.twitter.com/smXlUBi5RB
— UFC (@ufc) November 29, 2017
Oezdemir with victories his first three fights in the UFC this year is now on a five fight winning streak. The Swiss has won his last two bouts in a combined 70 seconds.
Oezdemir was arrested in Florida earlier this month for aggravated battery causing serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony charge. The light heavyweight fighter allegedly knocked a man unconscious with a punch in an altercation outside a bar in August.
Nothing can stop me now! 🌋🔜🆕 Jan 20 #itsofficial #DCvsNoTime #lessthenayear #fromnowheretothebelt #ufc220 pic.twitter.com/hZSJz8ZTaU
— Volkan Oezdemir (@volkan_oezdemir) November 30, 2017
Cormier is on a back of a third-round TKO loss to Jon Jones at UFC 214 where he lost the title. But was given the title back when Jones tested positive for a steroid which resulted in overturning the bout to a no contest.
The 38-year-old Cormier, first won the title in 2015 and since then has had two successful title defenses with his only defeats in MMA coming from the two bouts against former champ Jones.
A post shared by Daniel "DC" Cormier (@dc_mma) on
Even though the fight is likely to headline the Boston event, the Cormier Vs Oezdemir title bout to take the main event slot at UFC 220 is yet to be confimed.