Alonzo Menifield walks into UFC Qatar on Saturday night with the swagger of a man finally breaking through the light heavyweight ceiling, and he gets his biggest test yet in former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir.
“He’s ‘No Time,’ so I think he’s going to come out and hurt me and that’s where I can get the edge,” Menifield told reporters on Wednesday.
“Not to fight, but wait for that perfect strike. If necessary, I’ll wrestle, whatever.”
Meniveld (17-5-1) is energized by the opportunity to share the cage with a former title challenger in Oezdemir. In many ways it’s the biggest opportunity of his career; a win over a name like Oezdemir would be an important addition to his resume.
“This is a great opportunity. He’s one of those guys I’ve been watching lately. So I’m excited. Finally,” he said.
Menifield snapped a two-fight skid with his win over Julius Walker, but he never let those losses get to him in the match.
“You just move on. You don’t think about it. If you come from where I come from, hey, it is what it is, and I’m here,” he said.
With a win under his belt and momentum back on his side, Menifield doesn’t want to slow down. His goals now are simple: climb the ladder, challenge himself and start fending off names that matter.
“I’ll take them all. I don’t care. Just ranked opponents,” Menifield said.
“I’d like to fight some people, get those rematches and then take out one or two key people and then, yeah, let’s go for gold.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Alonzo Menifield above. He will face Volkan Oezdemir at UFC Qatar on Saturday.
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