At this point, the UFC allocated Movsar Evloev exactly 32 rounds of possible fighting time for 10 fights, the maximum amount of 160 minutes to work, and he gladly used all of them. There were stories within stories with Evloev as he emerged as a thin contender.
It was a good start. As someone does not end. That “sucks the air out of the arena”, as Dana White declared when Evloev reached out to Toronto in the empty hand of Arnold Allen in 2024. You may remember White’s melodramatic next-to-it statement.
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“That was the least competitive match anyone has ever seen,” he said, perhaps forgetting Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia could not fight to see the end of his stomach sticking around.
Maybe that’s why Evloev, who was 18-0 on the season and 8-0 in the UFC, was later defeated by Aljamain Sterling, not only the former boss, but also the red-hot Murphy Lerone. You got the feeling that, from a reluctant winning perspective, who was making so many metal passes was the surest way to blow up his undefeated record before getting his hands on the UFC belt.
However, Movsar cannot be denied. He did it through him.
And although it may appear at times that the Russian is operating under a dark cloud, one man who has had his back recently is the same man he will be trying to topple at UFC 333 this weekend in Abu Dhabi. That is Alexander Volkanovski, the champion of the UFC’s 145-pound weight class, and a champion of meritocracy who argued that Evloev had done more than enough to warrant a crack at his belt.
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He sees subtle virtue in Evloev’s approach. And Evloev, one Volkanovski is appreciated with a nod of approval.
“Yeah, it’s a real team,” Evloev said. “He’s not fake. He wants to fight the very best fighters in the division. So he knows who the best is. And we fight [on Saturday] because the time has come at last, and I cannot wait for the battle.”
Movsar Evloev (R) challenges Alexander Volkanovski for the lightweight title at UFC 333.
(Chris Unger via Getty Images)
A game in combat can be as lazy as it is lazy. You are pitied, and because you are pitied your way of knocking you in my mouth. However, 38-year-old Volkanovski was already at the top for a large part of his career, and he knows that if the Jose Aldos and Max Holloways of the world hadn’t given him a chance, he would never have gotten there.
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It is in this delicate understanding that Evloev will try to snatch it with a cane.
““I don’t want to be the guy who makes him retire, but I don’t think I’ll retire,” he said. “Volk” had a great journey and he got enough. He’s finished his legacy and maybe he’s just tired of fighting, doing the same thing for years.
“Even for me it takes 12 years and almost half of my age. And this is a long time, because being a fighter at this level, it means that you are always focused. And you can’t be a normal person. You don’t just do what you want, go where you want. You just play around your camp, your fights, so you always focus around this, but I also have a lot of strength. And this is too much in pain. And this is too much, what you want, go wherever you want. yours, as you always do at this level, but this is too great to be heavy. And this is too much for you to do.
Evloev points to a time when the UFC is tougher on fighters than ever. Last month, the UFC would walk Michael Page after posting a 5-1 record in the organization, as did Farid Basharat, who went 7-0 in the UFC and is 16-0 overall.
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The common denominator is that all six of Page’s fights went to scorecards, as did six of the seven that Basharat fought in Snoozy? Perhaps compared in recent times to has-boom-bam. During the four UFC fights he scored in the past at UFC Vegas 121 in September, only 10 of the 51 fights went to the scorecards, which is less than 20%.
During his 10 UFC fights with his debut in 2019, Evloev stood before the judge’s hearing every time, and all ruled in his favor. If he was a lawyer, we speak of him as CAPR. However, because he is a fighter, at the moment he becomes obsolete with the skills around him, we are more inclined to criticize him.
When you mention something about this to Evloev – and he says most people have I mentioned over the past two years – maybe it’s out of pride in the fighting technique (read: the dictator’s will) that has no interest in fights.
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One might even call Evloev’s staff-ad-itiveness to the game plan an act of defiance. Since the goal is to break down opponents in the course of the fight, Evloev has a winning formula.
“Now Volk” began to speak in no way [beat] “The plan,” he said, “is trying to affect me, that I will try another trial, which before we finish anything. But, like I said, I can beat someone with a plan because of style. And Volkanovski is no exception.
“But now we were looking much earlier than five rounds.”
Evloev’s father was a police chief back home in Russia, and his mother, he says, is the driving force behind his work ethic.
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“He is a worker at home, but we have a big family, so before anyone else,” he said. “And all day long she’s been doing something stupid and won’t stop, even now, because I think they’re addicted.” [to the work]. And where I am from, with large families we live together in one street. I have eight uncles.
“Let’s all stay on the same street and always stay close. Everyone is watching and you can’t just relax by yourself.”
The two things that stood out about Evloev, who teaches at the American Top Team in Florida and speaks very good English, is this: A) he is a sports athlete (he’s a crazy policeman), and, B) he understands what is going on around him. He has a sense of humor about it, and he doesn’t want to transfer his plan into post-pay-per-view time. If anything, he has learned to embrace the critics, an idea that will eventually turn into fans.
Movsar Evloev is a perfect 10-0 in the UFC.
(Jeff Bottari via Getty Images)
“Now we have so much to prove,” he said. “Look in Los Angeles, when me and Volkanovski face to face” [at the press conference]they begged me, but they love me, which I deserve. It proved to be a real legend, and I’m going to do the same. I just need a little more time. Especially when you’re fighting a guy like ‘Volk,’ when he’s a favorite fighter of many, many MMA fans, you’re supposed to hate him.
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Then he laughs, laughing, who was doing things for himself in this way, rather than the convention of the next.
“But here” [in Abu Dhabi]it will be very different,” he said, “because I have more fans and friends in that place. We will see whose major players.
Has anyone not appreciated running through the thin rows? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And his fight with Volkanovski is a dream fight for those who are rated at the highest level of skill.
“With the cage clause, no one will stop you from doing what you need to do,” says Evloev. “Only me” and “Volk” there, and we will see who will be the perfect fight.