Athletes
Movsar Evloev: Victory Is The Most Important Thing
Undefeated Featherweight Movsar Evloev Looks To Stamp His Spot As A Future Featherweight Title Contender By Defeating Arnold Allen At UFC 297
It’s been a trying journey for the undefeated 29-year-old, but slowly and surely, Movsar Evloev has made his way up the featherweight rankings.
Evloev has long been laser-focused on proving he’s one of the best in the world and putting his name into the title picture. Finally, after a myriad of fight cancelations, he’s just days away from the biggest fight of his life – a pivotal showdown with No. 4 ranked Arnold Allen at UFC 297: Strickland vs Du Plessis.
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It’s exactly the type of high-profile fight that Evloev needs on his resume to jump into the top tier of competitors at 145 pounds, and he’s beyond confident that he’ll make good on the chance in front of him.
“I think it’s a good opportunity for a title shot. I was asking for him since I came to the UFC. It’s an interesting fight and I’m 100% confident,” Evloev told UFC.com. “He’s one of the most powerful fighters in our division. He’s good everywhere and that’s why it’s interesting for me.
“He’s more of a striker, but he’s strong and his defense is not bad, but not with me. Even with the striking, I will surprise him. We’ll see on Saturday, and on Saturday everyone will know I’m complete.”
Handing a guy like Allen a loss would certainly go a long way in proving that Evloev’s sterling record of 17-0 is not to be ignored. It’s not that Evloev’s resume isn’t strong, considering he’s compiled seven wins in the UFC over tough fighters such as Nik Lentz, Hakeem Dawodu, and Dan Ige; it’s just that he might be lacking that shiny highlight-reel performance to put him over the top.
In his last fight at UFC 288, short notice opponent Diego Lopes had that type of showcase in a losing effort. Evloev beat Lopes, but it was Lopes who received most of the attention after the fight. Since then, Lopes has finished both Gavin Tucker and Pat Sabatini in a combined 3:08 minutes of Octagon time.
Evloev believes that should tell you how good he is, that someone who is as talented as Lopes wasn’t able to beat him.
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“I knew it was a big risk [fighting Lopes],” Evloev said. “Diego, he showed to everyone that he’s one of the most dangerous fighters because his jiu jitsu is high level, but even if we fight ten times, I will beat him ten times.”
Evloev went back to work at America Top Team following the win over Lopes and he added to his game while waiting for a fight. He had hoped to be back in action before the end of 2023, but that didn’t happen. When the UFC finally was able to lock him into a matchup with Allen, he couldn’t have been happier.
“It’s been too long between fights,” Evloev said. “But it’s OK. I’m still hungry. I will show a good performance against Allen to show them that I’m next for the title.”
UFC 297 Full Fight Card Preview
The featherweight strap is on the line between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria on February 17 at UFC 298. It’s pretty good timing for Evloev to have a breakthrough signature win and that means this opportunity is something that can’t be wasted.
And he thinks that even if he can’t deliver his first UFC finish, he’ll be the one fighting for the belt the next time he steps into the fray.
“It depends how it will go. Other fighters who are close to the championship have already fought for the title, and they showed nothing at all. I will show more than I need to fight for the title,” Evloev said. “This camp for this fight I changed a lot of things with my coaches and I’m pretty sure I’m much better to finish someone because we need a big performance. But even with no finish it’s OK. I’m 17-0 and victory is the most important thing. Then we will think about the finish.
“This is my time to show I’m ready.”
UFC 297: Strickland vs Du Plessis took place live from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on January 20, 2024. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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