Movsar Evloev had an escape plan for a fight week interview, and it failed on contact. Championship Rounds posted on X Friday, citing @AdamZubayraev, that “Movsar Evloev says he asked Nina Drama to wear a headscarf hoping she’d refuse so he could get out of the interview.”
The account attached Evloev’s own explanation: “Honestly, I couldn’t have cared less about that interview. I wanted to turn it down, so I just set a condition I thought she would refuse. I said, ‘if she wears a hijab, I’ll agree’ so I wouldn’t just refuse outright. She agreed, so then I had to sit there and do the interview.”
The interview itself surfaced Wednesday. In a clip Championship Rounds shared via @WillHarrisAOAF, Drama is covered as she sits down and asks, “Wait, can I look at you?” Evloev answers, “Yea of course. I can’t look at you if you weren’t wearing this.” Friday’s post adds the backstory. He was trying to say no without saying no, and she called his bluff.
View post on X
The timing matters because Evloev is headlining a pay-per-view. He’s 20-0, ranked No. 2 at featherweight in Knockout Daily’s rankings, trains out of American Top Team and last fought March 21. On Saturday, Oct. 24, in Salt Lake City, he challenges Alexander Volkanovski (28-4), the two-time UFC featherweight champion. Volkanovski already holds the record as the oldest fighter to defend the 145-pound title, having done it at 37, and last competed Jan. 31. The main event became official at Friday’s weigh-ins, with Volkanovski at 144.5 pounds and Evloev at 145. So nobody is walking in drained, and the cardio excuses are off the table.
The co-main is the bantamweight championship trilogy between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili, and the two faced off for the final time Friday ahead of the card.
View post on X
From a technical seat, the headliner is a Greco-Roman wrestling story. Evloev earned Master of Sports in Greco before turning pro in 2014 and held the M-1 Global bantamweight title before signing with the UFC. Volkanovski won national Greco titles twice by age 12. Expect a lot of underhook fighting along the fence, and expect the first clean body-lock entry to tell you who’s winning the clinch. I like Volkanovski to win the hand fighting early and make Evloev pay for every shot he telegraphs.
Official UFC 333 main card results will be added here as they come in, starting with the first walkout in Salt Lake City on Oct. 24.
View post on X
