Image Credit: UFC
Ilir Latifi wants heavyweight fight vs. Derrick Lewis
Ilir Latifi is set to take on Volkan Oezdemir at light heavyweight at UFC Uruguay on Saturday. Yet, the Swede is already looking ahead and says he wants to move up to heavyweight.
Why he wants to move up is simple. He believes he would have a speed advantage and can really use all his skills at the division.
“I even have plans of fighting at heavyweight, so let’s see,” Latifi said about moving up to heavyweight (via MMA Fighting). “Both divisions are tough. Light heavyweight is as tough as heavyweight. Both divisions they hit hard; light heavyweight they are faster, higher paced. There are advantages of the heavier guys, so we’ll see.”
Although at heavyweight he would be much smaller, Latifi isn’t worried about that. He is confident in his skills but assures he isn’t focusing on that just yet as he has a tough fight against Oezdemir ahead of him. Should he win that, he says he would like to fight Derrick Lewis.
“I would like to fight anybody in the top-10 — maybe Derrick Lewis,” he said. “I’m not looking past Volkan, this is a fight to focus on and do it. After that, let’s see, let’s take the decision from there.”
Lewis, currently on a two-fight losing streak, was TKO’d to Junior dos Santos and before that was submitted by Daniel Cormier for the title. To get the title shot, he knocked out Alexander Volkov at UFC 229 in what was a great fight. Currently, he is scheduled to face Blagoy Ivanov at UFC 244, where he is looking to get back into the win column.
Like Lewis, Latifi is also looking to get back to his winning ways at back at UFC 232 he dropped a decision loss to Corey Anderson. Before that, he beat Ovince Saint Preux and Tyson Pedro.
