Former UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Johnson had nothing but praise for ex-teammate Volkan Oezdimir but sees a victory over Jon Jones for the Swiss prospect as unrealistic
Johnson, who retired following a devastating loss to Daniel Cormier in their light heavyweight title fight earlier this year, claims that he backed Oezdimir to beat Jimi Manuwa at UFC 214, but was surprised at how easy he made it look (via MMAFighting):
“Volkan is a beast, that’s what he is,” Johnson told Ariel Helani recently. Volkan has been my main training partner for the last year and a half. From the beginning, I said Volkan [would win]. Jimi is fast, but he is not strong, that’s the truth.
“I told (Volkan) that every time Jimi throws a punch he has to counter him and let him know that he’s there,” Johnson continued. “I told him not to play around with him. Volkan went out there and did his thing. I didn’t know he was going to knock him out like that.
“I told him, ‘Jimi is riding on cloud nine right now,’ he’s been really confident ever since he fought me. Then he started talking about how he wanted a rematch with me or whatever, but Volkan went out there and showed him what’s it all about.”
Despite praising his former training partner, Johnson sees Jon Jones as having too much for Oezdimir as it stands:
“Jon is still at another level,” Johnson said. “… Jon, man, for sure. That’s just the reality of it. Jon would win, I know that, but Volkan is not a p***y. He can take a lot of punishment and keep going.
“I’ve hit Volkan with some bombs. He might have shaken his head, but then he’d come right back for me. He’s the real deal.
“Volkan isn’t the fastest,” Johnson added. “He’s kind of like DC (Daniel Cormier), he has heart… a lot of heart.”
