UFC Busan: Aleksandar Rakic plots path to title, starting with Volkan Oezdemir
- Light heavyweight prospect wants a main event next if he beats Oezdemir – ‘Then I’m ready for anyone who has the title’
- ‘I’m sure he’s gonna come to this fight ready, but I’m more than ready to go’
Aleksandar Rakic knows that even if he beats Volkan Oezdemir at UFC Fight Night Busan, he probably won’t be fighting for the UFC light heavyweight title any time soon.
But that doesn’t me he hasn’t got a long-term strategy locked in.
“If Dominick Reyes wins against Jon Jones there’s gonna probably be a rematch, that’s for sure,” he said at a media day in Korea. “After I win this fight I need a main event. I need five rounds.
“I want to taste the experience, I need to taste to prepare for five rounds. I’m ready now to go five rounds, but still the preparation is gonna be a little bit changed. After a main event, I’m ready for anyone who has the title.”
It’s bold talk for a 27-year-old who only has four UFC fights under his belt. But those bouts yielded four wins, his last two by knockouts, stretching his record to 12-1.
Indeed, the Austrian has not tasted defeat since his first professional fight in 2011, and caught the attention of the MMA world with a 42-second head kick knockout of Jimi Manuwa in June, a defeat which prompted the Briton to retire.