The UFC put out its full Countdown episode for the UFC 333 main event on Sunday, posting the Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev preview to its YouTube channel and UFC.com. It’s the full-length camp feature for the featherweight title fight, which goes down Saturday, Oct. 24, in Abu Dhabi. The promotion also dropped a separate Countdown for Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili 3, so if you’ve got an hour and a strong coffee, you’re set.
The main event is a strange and fun clash of résumés. Evloev is 20-0 as a pro and 10-0 in the UFC since debuting in 2019, and he still hasn’t scored a single knockout or submission inside the Octagon. His last four wins came against Lerone Murphy, Aljamain Sterling, Arnold Allen and Diego Lopes. That last name stings a little, because Lopes went on to jump past him in line and fight Volkanovski for the belt twice. Evloev told MMA Fighting’s José Youngs that his style may have slowed his path, but that winning is still what counts, and he floated the idea of finally getting a finish in his first title fight. “Why not? I have everything to do that,” he said.
Then Volkanovski opened his mouth, and the plan apparently changed. The two-time champion told Who The Fook Are These Guys that Evloev wants to hold him down and that “that ain’t happening,” adding that he’ll be forcing the fight and expects a stoppage. Speaking to MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn, Evloev answered Volkanovski’s claim that he can’t beat him on the scorecards with this: “I was looking for finish. But when I hear that kind of talk, I don’t want to finish. I want to prove that he’s not special.”
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That’s a challenger telling the champ he’ll beat him in the most annoying way possible, on purpose. I respect it.
The stakes for Volkanovski are historic. A win would give him nine featherweight title defenses, moving him past Jose Aldo for the most in UFC history. He’s also already plotting life after 145. Volkanovski is 0-2 in lightweight title fights against Islam Makhachev, and he pitched a send-off superfight with Justin Gaethje, who won the 155-pound title by finishing Ilia Topuria at UFC White House in June. Arman Tsarukyan is waiting after a first-round knockout of Mauricio Ruffy, and Charles Oliveira faces Lopes on Dec. 12 with title hopes of his own, so that line is crowded.
Evloev, for his part, said he carries his whole republic’s expectations and that ego comes second to bringing the belt home. He said the takedowns will tire Volkanovski out, and any knockout would come because the wrestling worked.
My take: Volkanovski talking about a Gaethje superfight before beating an unbeaten wrestler who has been grinding people into paste for seven years is the kind of looking ahead that gets champions in trouble. Evloev doesn’t need a highlight. He needs 25 minutes of Volk’s back against the cage, and he just told us he’s happy to take it to the judges out of spite. Saturday in Abu Dhabi, we find out if the old man can stay on his feet long enough to make it a fight.
