Oezdemir (photo via Twitter)

By FCF Staff

The consensus is that Alexander Gustafsson will be the next man to challenge Jon Jones, but Volkan Oezdemir has outlined why he should battle “Bones” next.

Oezdemir took on fellow light-heavyweight contender Jimi Manuwa at UFC 214 on Saturday, and quickly KO’d the heavy handed fighter. The victory was Oezdemir’s third straight win, since he joined the UFC last year.

Since Gustafsson pushed Jones to his limits, in their epic, 2013 bout, many believe the Swedish fighter will be booked for a title fight with “Bones”. But, recently Oezdemir had this to say, while making his case for why he should be next (quotes via Bloody Elbow):

“I better be (next in line), because Gustafsson fought [Jones],” Oezdemir said. “I’m fresh, I’m here, I’m new. See what I just did. Right now, it’s all about momentum, so if [Jones] goes to heavyweight to fight Brock Lesnar, it’s killing the momentum, too. I think we need to build up the fight, and I think I’ll be a really, really good opponent for him.”

“Gustafsson was the No. 1 contender for a while. He has history with Jon Jones, and I think fans want to see the rematch. That’s four years ago. That’s a long time. Maybe it’s time for some new blood.”

Oezdemir was ranked #5 before UFC 214, Manuwa was #3, and Gustafsson was sitting in the #2 spot.