Volkan Oezdemir wants to give Carlos Ulberg a taste of the upper echelon at light heavyweight.
Oezdemir (20-7 MMA, 8-6 UFC) takes on rising contender Ulberg (11-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 248 (ESPN+) main card at Galaxy Arena in Macau.
City Kickboxing’s Ulberg has won six straight, but former UFC title challenger Oezdemir expects to present a different challenge for him.
“He’s riding good momentum of course, but he also fought lesser-level competition,” Oezdemir said at UFC Fight Night 248 media day. “The only ranked guy that he fought was (Alonzo) Menifield, who is right now out of the rankings.
“It’s a different world. There is a different level. This is the highest of the levels. This is the UFC – of course everybody’s strong in the UFC. But within the UFC, there’s also levels. This is also why I’m going to show him on Saturday.”
Oezdemir admits he was initially aiming higher than Ulberg, but after being told that top-ranked contenders weren’t available, he just wanted to compete so he can continue building momentum after back-to-back first-round finishes of Bogdan Guskov and Johnny Walker.
“I was OK because first I wanted to fight up the rankings, and my goal was to fight Jamahal Hill or Jan Blachowicz, but both guys were injured,” Oezdemir said. “They told me I had to wait quarter 1 or quarter 2 of 2025, and you know my nickname, ‘No Time.’ So, I had to be active, I had to stay on track.”
Anthony Smith previously mentioned that if Magomed Ankalaev picked up a lackluster win at UFC 308, Oezdemir had a big opportunity to emerge as No. 1 contender with a win over Ulberg.
“This fight is going to be a fast-paced fight for sure,” Oezdemir said. “It’s going to be a banger. This is going to be a must-see fight for the fans. We are both very strong and athletic guys looking for the finish, so of course this is not a fight you want to miss because I’m going to go there and get my hand raised.
“He’s riding a six-fight winning streak, so he’s like a hot prospect right now. But I’ve also been knocking (out) and submitting top-competition guys. With a great performance on Saturday, it is going to bring me close to a title shot. I think this is one of the conversations we’re going to have because a great performance, a great finish on Saturday, will bring the eyes also on this potential matchup.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 248.
