Movsar Evloev says first UFC finish could come against Volkanovski at UFC 333
The unbeaten Russian challenger, 20-0 as a professional, has won all 10 of his UFC fights on the scorecards and meets Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Movsar Evloev believes his first stoppage in the UFC could arrive in the biggest fight of his career, when he challenges Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Evloev is unbeaten in 20 professional fights and has won all 10 of his bouts since joining the UFC in 2019, but none of those wins has come by knockout or submission. That lack of finishes is one reason the title shot may have taken so long to arrive. He said he had been working on finishing since his last win and feels he now has more ways to end fights: “Now, maybe my first finish in my first title fight, why not? I have everything to do that.” His recent run has come against ranked opposition. His past four wins were over Lerone Murphy, Aljamain Sterling, Arnold Allen and Diego Lopes, who went on to move ahead of Evloev in the queue and face Volkanovski in two title fights.
Evloev has also had spells of inactivity, yet the UFC has kept him on the roster while letting other unbeaten fighters go, including Farid Basharat, who was released with a 16-0 record. Asked about that, Evloev said winning still counts: “I have zero finishes in the UFC, but I’m still in UFC and I’m fighting for the title, so that means that not just finishes is important.” He added that a good fight could showcase wrestling for knowledgeable fans, and that those fans may be part of why he is still with the promotion.
Volkanovski, a two-time champion, has suggested Evloev's wrestling will not be enough and that the challenger will eventually have to stand and trade. Evloev said he would stick with his usual approach, adding that his whole country was waiting for him to bring the title home and that this mattered more than his ego. He said any knockout would be a product of his grappling rather than a departure from it: “Even if I knock him out, not because my wrestling doesn’t work, but because it works very good, so I will make him tired.”
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