Volkan Oezdemir knows he’s probably not going to get the next crack at new UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. So, instead, he’s going after the next best thing.

Following his 42-second knockout of Jimi Manuwa at UFC 214 this past Saturday, Oezdemir (15-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has called out former two-time title challenger Alexander Gustafsson (18-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) for a fight to “increase the value of the next title shot.”

The Swiss fighter said he not only views a matchup with Gustafsson as a No. 1 contender bout to get to Jones (23-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC), but also thinks a showdown with the Swede would determine “the real king of Europe” (via Instagram):

“Let’s increase the value of the next title shot! @alexthemauler and I need to figure out who is the real king of Europe! Alex, I know how great you are and I respect you a lot but I’m going to knock you out! Not because I want to just because I have to!

#jonesvsthekingofeurope #notime #newblood #iamdifferent”

Oezdemir, No. 8 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA light heavyweight rankings, has exploded onto the scene as a new face in the weight class over the past six months. He won his short-notice debut against Ovince Saint Preux at UFC Fight Night 104 in February. He followed that up with a 28-second starching of Misha Cirkunov at UFC Fight Night 109 in May, before stunning Manuwa in less than a minute at UFC 214.

No. 5 Gustafsson, meanwhile, is coming off consecutive victories over Glover Teixeira and Jan Blachowicz, which helped him rebound from a title-fight loss to then-champ Daniel Cormier at UFC 192 in October 2015. “The Mauler” is looking for a title shot of his own, and after putting on the 2013 “Fight of the Year” with Jones at UFC 165, appears to be looking for a rematch, not an encounter with Oezdemir (via Twitter):

@JonnyBones congrats Champ. Stop asking for retired fighters, I've been waiting to put my hands on you and so have all the fans. — Alexander Gustafsson (@AlexTheMauler) July 30, 2017

For more on UFC 214, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie‘s official blog and is edited by Mike Bohn.