UFC London: Volkan Oezdemir Claims Dominick Reyes’ Coaches Had Him Winning Saturday

Officially, Volkan Oezdemir has now lost three straight. But the heavy-handed, light-heavyweight believes he, in fact, was the winner at UFC London.

Oezdemir faced the rising and undefeated Dominick Reyes at the event, and after three rounds of action, the latter was handed the split decision win. After the fight, the Swiss fighter had this to say about the decision and Reyes’ corner (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“Even the coaches of Reyes came to me before the judges’ announcement and after the judges’ announcement and told me I was winning the fight,” Oezdemir said. “I don’t want to say it’s (expletive). Maybe I should have produced a little more, but I clearly won the fight.

“I was the better man tonight, and unfortunately the judges didn’t see it that way.”

“…I think he was good, but I don’t think he was as good as other people I’ve fought,” Oezdemir said. “But at the end of the day, he passed the test…”

Now, it’s certainly true that some folks, in addition to the one judge, had the fight for Oezdemir. But, did he “clearly” win the contest? That’s likely up for debate.

According to the UFC’s stats, Reyes outscored Oezdemir scored with significant strikes by a margin of 44 to 35. That said, Oezdemir landed one more strike that Reyes in total (48-47), and he also scored one takedown. So, even if the fight had been called for Oezdemir, there’s no doubt it was a competitive fight.

All that aside, no one can deny that Oezdemir has diminished some of the buzz that was tied to Reyes heading into the contest. Further, Oezdemir (15-4) did showcase other elements of his developing game, like his wrestling. So, although he’s lost three in a row, no one should be closing the book on him being a contender yet.

With the split decision victory, Reyes moved his record to 11-0 and his UFC record to 5-0.