UFC’s debut fight in Saudi Arabia is just around the corner, Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev will be facing each other to set who takes the number one contender title. Regardless, there’s another fight that has been making some noise in the light-heavyweight division. Johnny Walker will be facing Volkan Oezdemir.’No Time’ has been on a one-fight winning streak and needs more wins to increase his rank while on the other hand, Walker is on a one-fight losing streak.

Volkan Oezdemir has a record of 19 victories and 7 losses and is currently ranked 11th. Well, Oezdemir’s fighting record speaks for itself but there’s hardly any information about his life, ahead of his clash against Walker, let’s have a look at whats his origin and ethnicity.

Where is Volkan Oezdemir from? What is his ethnicity and nationality?

There was once a time when Volkan Oezdemir was considered one of the best fighters in the promotion. The promotion gave him an early kick when they scheduled his fight with Daniel Cormier back in 2018 for the light-heavyweight title but well, defeating Cormier is not an easy task as Oezdemir was ruthlessly knocked out by ‘DC’ in the second round. Interestingly, it was the first time a Swiss fighter fought such a huge match.

Born to a Kurdish immigrant father and a Swiss mother, Volkan Oezdemir finds his roots in both cultures, however, he likes to embrace his Swiss nationality close to his heart. He is proud to be a part of two different cultures, “I was ready to fight with me because this is where I’m born and raised. It is who I am. I am really happy that I can bring people together and it is a big mix you know with me. I’m Swiss-born and raised and my dad is Kurdish from Turkey so I get culture of both,” said Oezdemir in a conversation with the UFC. Now that we know about his ethnicity, let us have a look at how he started his endeavor in the fight world.

How did Oezdemir start fighting?

Volkan Oezdemir started his journey in the MMA by making kickboxing his base. Interestingly, Oezdemir never expected himself to deviate from the realm of kickboxing till he went to the Netherlands. During his teenage years, Oezdemir made a trip to the Netherlands to the Golden Glory kickboxing gym. The coaches were so impressed by his fighting style and technique that they pushed him to compete in MMA full-time.

I officially tried the sport when I went over to the Netherlands when I was around 19. I reached out to the Golden Glory kickboxing gym, and they loved my drive and application to training. They said to me: Why don’t you fight? I wasn’t sure because I was doing mostly kickboxing. But they told me to return for a full training camp and so that’s what I did,” said Oezdemir.

The legendary gym was his biggest push in the MMA journey as they not only supported him to be the best version of himself but helped him get close to his idol Alistair Overeem. Regardless, Oezdemir will be facing the #7the ranked Walker in his upcoming fight. Do you believe he has what it takes to defeat the Brazilian sensation? State your thoughts in the comments below.