Alexander Volkanovski just knocked Movsar Evloev out in the UFC 333 main event, and now he’s the one sticking up for him. The featherweight champion pushed back on the growing pile of criticism aimed at Evloev, rejecting claims that the Russian quit or showed up flat. He told anyone still doubting to watch Evloev’s next fight before writing him off.
“I’m just a nightmare matchup for him. Watch his next fight. It’ll be his best performance to date. Remember I said that,” Volkanovski said, in comments shared by FREAK.MMA on X and reported by Bloody Elbow.
Volkanovski went further than polite praise. He said the version of Evloev he faced was the best one there has ever been, and that this version would beat the rest of the division. “If that Movsar fought anyone else in the division, he walks through them,” Volkanovski said. He also admitted people probably won’t buy it.
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Who’s Saying Evloev Quit
The loss was the first of Evloev’s career, and the reaction has been rough. Paddy Pimblett, a UFC lightweight contender, accused Evloev of quitting and said the 32-year-old “rolled over.” Even Evloev’s teammate Dustin Poirier wondered aloud whether Evloev gave up on himself, reasoning that he must have been hurt to not try to fight back.
Evloev, for his part, took it with class. He congratulated Volkanovski in his first statement after the fight.
What the Numbers Say
The big pre-fight question was whether Volkanovski could stuff Evloev’s wrestling. He mostly couldn’t keep him off his legs. Evloev landed three of seven takedown attempts, a 43% clip. What he couldn’t do was hold Volkanovski down after any of them. That’s the part that matters for a grappler whose whole identity is control time.
Volkanovski credited the plan anyway. “A big part of his game plan was going to be to fire off the break as well, knowing that I’d get up so again, that game plan was perfect,” he said. His one quibble was that he expected Evloev to get more aggressive on the feet once the takedowns stopped sticking.
What’s Next for Evloev
Bloody Elbow describes Evloev’s spot as precarious even with just one loss on his ledger. Before UFC 333 he was already facing calls to be cut over his low-action style, and now he’ll probably need to open things up. The outlet floated Brazilian contender Jean Silva as a possible next opponent. Silva is likely one more win from a shot at Volkanovski, which makes that fight a title eliminator in all but name.
Sal’s take: I’ll give Volkanovski this, he’s putting his name on a prediction, which is more than most people do before they’ve seen a line. But Pimblett’s claim that Evloev quit and the champ’s claim that he faced the best Evloev ever can’t both be true, and the stat sheet backs the champ more than Pimblett. A guy who hits three of seven shots on Volkanovski didn’t fold early. He just found out that getting Volkanovski down and keeping him there are two different jobs. If Evloev draws Jean Silva and the market hangs the ‘quitter’ tag on him, I’ll be checking that price closely, because the public overreacting to one bad night is how live underdogs get made.
