Alexander Volkanovski is three weeks out from defending his featherweight title, and the thing bugging him most is how people treat his challenger. Speaking on Precision, Volkanovski said Movsar Evloev has been handled poorly by both the UFC and the fan base. He added that the booing Evloev got at their press conference landed harder on him than on the man it was aimed at.
“Even when we were doing the press conference, everyone was booing him, and I’m feeling bad,” Volkanovski said. “The boos are meant to get in his head, and it’s getting more into my head than him, I reckon.”
MMA Junkie first reported the comments, which Yahoo Sports also carried. This is a long way from the old trash-talk line about feeling bad for what you’re going to do to someone on fight night. Volkanovski meant it literally. He thinks Evloev was overlooked for a title shot he’d already earned.
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“With Movsar, that’s why he’s had to take the long road,” Volkanovski said. “He probably deserved it before now, but yeah, that’s why I’m glad it’s happening.”
The fight
Volkanovski (28-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) puts the belt on the line against Evloev (20-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) in the UFC 333 main event on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. It’s the first defense of Volkanovski’s second reign as champion. Evloev arrives with an unbeaten record and 10 straight wins inside the Octagon, and he still hears it from the crowd.
Volkanovski partly understood why. “A lot of people don’t like his style, which I guess I can understand in this sport, we know how it can be,” he said. He came back around quickly, though, and framed himself as a champion who doesn’t make challengers jump through extra hoops. “I’m a pretty easy champion. If he deserves it, let’s do it, and he does deserve it, so I’m glad it’s happening.”
The exit door is open
Volkanovski has been with the UFC since 2016 and says he can feel his career winding down. He made clear that UFC 333 could be his last fight if it goes badly. He said he set the same condition before his previous fight. He didn’t take heavy damage that night, so he kept going.
“If I take a lot of damage in this fight, all right, we’ll call it a day,” he said. “I’m not looking to regain the title right now.”
He described his approach as taking each fight as it comes. He checks his health and weighs his options, and for now he’s choosing to continue.
My take: the champ is right, and it’s a little embarrassing that the most gracious defense of Evloev came from the guy who has to fight him. Ten UFC wins without a loss should end the argument about whether someone belongs in a title fight. Booing a man at a press conference because his fights don’t fit your highlight reel tells you more about the room than about him. If Evloev beats a two-time champion on Oct. 24, nobody gets to call it the long road anymore. It becomes his road, and the crowd in Abu Dhabi will have to decide whether they want to boo the new champion.
