Felony battery charges dropped against UFC contender Volkan Oezdemir

Top UFC light heavyweight contender Volkan Oezdemir has been cleared of a felony battery charge dating back to an incident that took place in August 2017, as the alleged victim in the case failed to cooperate with the prosecutors.

Oezdemir’s lawyer, Bruce Zimet, revealed to MMAFighting that the case was dismissed on Monday in a Broward County, Florida court. The 28-year-old was accused of striking and knocking out a man, Kevin Cohen, outside a bar in Fort Lauderdale in August of last year. Cohen claimed he was struck and knocked unconscious by Oezdemir, leaving him with substantial swelling and a laceration that required staples.

Kristi Grimm, a spokesperson for the state attorney’s office, confirmed that the prosecution will no longer resume and the charges were dropped “due to lack of cooperation from the victim.” Zimet revealed Oezdemir was present in court to hear this news, and he is now ready “to move forward with his professional career.”

The incident cost Oezdemir a fight against Shogun Rua that was supposed to take place at UFC Chile in May, as he was forced to surrender his passport as a term of his bail. The fight was then moved to UFC Hamburg which takes place later this month on July 22, but Oezdemir was moved from that bout to instead face Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 227.

Oezdemir (15-2) last fought at UFC 220 in January when he missed out on light heavyweight gold, being defeated by current champion Daniel Cormier. The Switzerland born fighter won three straight fights before that, including a split decision win over Ovince St-Preux, and knockout victories against Misha Cirkunov and Jimi Manuwa.