UFC featherweight contender Movsar Evloev won’t give up in his pursuit of Ilia Topuria, even if it means following him to other divisions.
Evloev, who currently occupies the #4 spot in the 145-pound rankings, staked his claim for the next shot at Topuria’s gold with two important victories in 2024.
The undefeated Russian outpointed perennial contender Arnold Allen and former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling to extend his perfect professional and UFC records to 19-0 and 9-0, respectively.
With that, Evloev has entered the new year with his sights firmly set on “El Matador,” whom he was slated to face back in 2022 before a cancellation.
Unfortunately for the charging 30-year-old, though, Topuria may have different plans. The champ recently caused a stir by revealing plans to move up to the lightweight division, even suggesting his title defense opposite Max Holloway last October may have marked his final time competing at 145 pounds.
Should that be the case, Evloev has insisted that the door will remain open for him and Topuria to settle their differences.
“To be honest, it’s not easy to even understand what’s going on,” Evloev told MMA Fighting regarding his next fight. “Because Max [Holloway] said he will not come back to featherweight again. So Ilia’s talking that he’s moving up, also, especially after my fight. I don’t know what’s going on. For me, it doesn’t matter who will be my next opponent.
“Even if the champion moves up, he will leave the title. I will get the title and then I will follow him. Lightweight is not too far for me,” Evloev continued. “Even if he moves up, I will take the belt first because this is my first goal. So then I will go after him, even if he goes to middleweight. It doesn’t matter. He’s not a big guy. I don’t need to cut the weight to beat this guy. I need his head on my list.”
Despite his comments and talk of potentially dropping the featherweight belt to avoid more rough weight cuts in the division, Topuria attempted to clarify things last month, insisting he won’t leave the belt vacant.