Dickens’ opening line from A Tale of Two Cities was written about London and Paris and The French Revolution, but it also is an apt, two-sentence way of describing Volkan Oezdemir’s rookie and sophomore campaigns as a member of the UFC roster.
In February 2017, the Swiss light heavyweight made his short-notice debut in the Octagon, grinding out a hard-fought win against Ovince Saint Preux to push his winning streak to three. Three months later in Stockholm, Sweden, Oezdemir made quick work of Misha Cirkunov, knocking out the Latvian-Canadian in 28 seconds.
Before he’d left the arena that evening, “No Time” had his next bout lined up and two months later, he stormed through Jimi Manuwa at UFC 214, posting his third win in six months and second in under a minute to establish himself as the top contender in the light heavyweight division.