UFC targeting Volkan Oezdemir vs. Jiri Prochazka matchup

The UFC is targeting a light heavyweight matchup between Volkan Oezdemir and Jiri Prochazka though the coronavirus pandemic means there is no date just yet.

Speaking to MMAjunkie.com, Oezdemir said the UFC offered him a fight against Prochazka for the Dublin card in August. However, the coronavirus pandemic means the fight is up in the air at the moment, though Oezdemir still expects the fight to get booked eventually.

“They offered me Jiri Prochazka, and I verbally accepted the fight. Just for the moment right now, I didn’t get any proposal (or) fight offer. I was still doing my renewal of the contract and it took some time, and now finally it’s done and probably the fight contract will come after that,” Prochazka said.

Oezdemir is one of the top-ranked contenders in the UFC light heavyweight division and is coming off of a win over Aleksandar Rakic in his last outing. Prochazka was just recently signed by the UFC, but he was the RIZIN light heavyweight champion and is one of the top prospects at 205lbs in the sport right now. The winner of this fight would certainly move closer to the upper echelon of the UFC’s light heavyweight division, with both men looking for a potential future showdown against champion Jon Jones.

Though Prochazka isn’t a big name to fans in North America, Oezdemir said he’s well aware of how dangerous he is and that he’s a fan of the matchup. He hopes the UFC can get the contract done and the fight booked whenever the coronavirus pandemic subsides, also mentioning he would be willing to compete at “Fight Island” if the UFC wants him to.

“For me, it’s good. I like this fight. The problem for Jiri is that he’s a newcomer, he was a champion in Japan, but I think the UFC has trouble finding opponents for him and at the same time, they have trouble finding opponents for me, so it’s like a situation where everything’s coming together,” Oezdemir said.

Who wins between Volkan Oezdemir and Jiri Prochazka?