Movsar Evloev came into fight week planning to stop Alexander Volkanovski. Now he says he’d rather take the long road. Responding to Volkanovski’s claim that Evloev can’t beat him on the scorecards, the undefeated featherweight told MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn that the talk flipped his mindset entirely.
“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,” Evloev said.
The two meet for Volkanovski’s featherweight title on Oct. 24, headlining UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi. Evloev is 20-0. Volkanovski, according to MMA Fighting, is chasing a defense that would move him past Jose Aldo for the most featherweight title defenses in UFC history.
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Volkanovski laid out his read on the matchup during an interview with the Who The Fook Are These Guys podcast, and it’s pretty clear he expects a grappling fight that he intends to refuse. “We know what he wants to do,” he said. “He wants to grab a hold of me and hold me down, and that ain’t happening. He’s going to be forced to be on the feet and let’s see if he can handle that.” He added that he plans to be the one pushing the pace and predicted a stoppage: “I’m not sitting back waiting, I’m going to be forcing a fight, and I think we get a finish, boys. I really do.”
The Gaethje Side Plot
The champion also spent part of that interview looking past Abu Dhabi. Volkanovski pitched a lightweight title superfight with Justin Gaethje as a joint send-off for both men, which ESPN and MMA Fighting both reported. Gaethje won the 155-pound belt in June with a violent finish of Ilia Topuria at UFC White House. Volkanovski is 0-2 in lightweight title fights, both against Islam Makhachev. The first was competitive. The second, taken on short notice, ended early.
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“Let’s do a super fight, lightweight title on the line and then we can both see everyone off with a crazy super fight,” Volkanovski said, adding that the divisions could sort themselves out afterward. The UFC hasn’t named Gaethje’s next challenger. Arman Tsarukyan is waiting after a first-round knockout of Mauricio Ruffy, and BMF champion Charles Oliveira fights Diego Lopes on Dec. 12 with the belt in his sights.
Quick Take
I like Evloev’s answer more than I’d expect to like a trash-talk reply, because it’s a statement about style as much as ego. Telling a champion who just promised to force the fight that you plan to beat him over the full distance is a dare. Volkanovski’s whole plan rests on keeping this standing, and he’s openly mentioned his opponent wanting to hold him down. That’s the tell. If Evloev gets his hands locked in the first round and Volkanovski spends energy unwinding them, the champion’s pace advantage starts leaking out by Round 3. And somewhere on Reddit, someone will call a 20-0 fighter’s chain wrestling boring while Volkanovski is busy fighting off a body lock against the fence. My pick is Evloev by decision, and I’d bet the judges have an easy night if he wins the clinch exchanges early. Plenty of people have talked their way into a Volkanovski title defense. Evloev is the rare one whose game actually backs it up.
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