Undefeated Movsar Evloev believes his perfect record will remain intact even if his next fight is for the UFC featherweight championship.
The next challenger for the featherweight belt is yet to be determined after Alexander Volkanovski reclaimed it with a dominant victory over Diego Lopes at UFC 314. Volkanovski became a two-time champion by winning the vacant title after Ilia Topuria vacated it to move up to the lightweight division.
Evloev boasts a 9-0 record in the UFC and has a strong argument for a title opportunity. If he faces Volkanovski in the future, he is confident he will become only the second fighter to defeat the Australian at 145 pounds.
“I think if I face him, I will just push him to the wall,” Evloev stated on the Overdogs Podcast. “I won’t let him escape, won’t let him move. He’ll have to engage with me, and then he will get tired. Or I will break him because I know I have more power, better wrestling, and I can control him for five rounds or finish him on the ground.”
One potential obstacle for Evloev is a perceived lack of interest from UFC matchmakers. Despite impressive wins inside the octagon against former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling, top contender Arnold Allen, and Diego Lopes, Evloev has yet to secure a finish since joining the UFC in 2019.
Evloev had intended to display a more dynamic striking style in his UFC 310 fight against Sterling, but Sterling’s focus on wrestling resulted in a grappling-heavy contest and a victory for Evloev that might not be enough to guarantee him a title shot.
“For the Aljamain Sterling fight, I focused almost entirely on striking because the UFC kept saying ‘he has no finishes, just a wrestling style,’ so I wanted to show them I have good striking too,” Evloev explained. “But in that fight, I couldn’t show it because my opponent just took me down and tried to do jiu-jitsu with me, making it difficult to showcase striking while you’re constantly on the ground.”
Evloev is so confident in his striking abilities that he guarantees he will prioritize a stand-up fight, regardless of who he faces for the title, and secure a victory.
“Okay, I can promise them that I won’t take anyone down if they give me a title shot,” Evloev asserted. “I won’t initiate the takedowns. If they try to take me down, fine, I’ll accept it, but I won’t be the one to start. I will strictly focus on striking, so we’ll see what happens.”
