Alexander Volkanovski backs himself to beat Movsar Evloev in pure grappling

The featherweight champion faces the unbeaten Russian at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi on 24 October, where a win would give him the most title wins in UFC featherweight history.

Alexander Volkanovski believes he would beat Movsar Evloev even if their UFC 333 featherweight title fight were reduced to a wrestling and grappling contest with no strikes.

Victory over Evloev in Abu Dhabi on 24 October would give Volkanovski the most title wins in UFC featherweight history. The challenger is 20-0 as a professional and 10-0 in the UFC. He has landed 49 takedowns in the octagon, 22 of them against Lerone Murphy, Aljamain Sterling, Arnold Allen and Diego Lopes.

Volkanovski said at the UFC 333 media day on Wednesday: “[Evloev has] incredible wrestling.” He added: “One of the best in the UFC, definitely the best in our division. But again, it’s just not enough for me, you know what I mean?” The champion went further when asked about a fight decided purely on the mat. Volkanovski said: “To be honest, I believe if if we went five rounds of no strikes and just wrestling, grappling, I’ll beat him there.” He said that Evloev was a great wrestler but that, in MMA, those skills were not enough.

Volkanovski has won 15 of his 18 UFC fights over the past decade. He has conceded only 10 takedowns in featherweight bouts and won every one of those fights. Islam Makhachev took him down four times in their first meeting, but that fight was at lightweight.

Volkanovski said he had a lot of respect for Evloev but that being taken down would not make him panic. He said he expected to get back to his feet and that Evloev would lose the position as soon as he tried to do damage from the top.

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