UFC featherweight titleholder, Ilia Topuria, believes he already “conquered” the 145-pound division with championship victories over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, which is why “El Matador” continues to flirt with the idea of capturing a second crown.
Movsar Evloev is not impressed.
The undefeated Russian bruiser improved to 19-0 by turning away former bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, as part of the UFC 310 pay-per-view (PPV) event last month in Las Vegas and is currently waiting for matchmakers to book his next assignment.
“To be honest, it’s not easy to even understand what’s going on,” the No. 4-ranked Evloev told MMA Fighting. “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.”
Like Topuria, Holloway has also set his sights on the 155-pound weight class.
“Even if the champion moves up, he will leave the title,” the 30 year-old Evloev continued. “I will get the title and then I will follow him. Lightweight is not too far for me. 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.”
That could prove to be a very tall order if this accusation proves true.