As undefeated Russian standout Movsar Evloev was bagging his 18th career win, UFC CEO Dana White was placing bets…
As undefeated Russian standout Movsar Evloev was bagging his 18th career win, UFC CEO Dana White was placing bets on a football game.
Back in January, Evloev stepped inside the Octagon for a featherweight clash with Arnold Allen as part of the UFC 297 main card. Despite walking away with a decisive decision victory, Evloev left a lot to be desired with his performance, leading White to call it “the least fun fight anybody’s ever seen.”
A truly remarkable statement coming from a man who once sat through Namajunas vs. Esparza 2.
While White’s criticism is not entirely off-base, it turns out the UFC bossman may not have actually seen most of the fight.
“Dana said that my last fight was not entertaining,” Evloev said on the Badaev Podcast. “Maybe he wanted to motivate me somehow or dampen my championship ambitions a little. Then we talked with [American Top Team owner] Dan Lambert after the fight. He said, ‘Movsar, I was sitting next to Dana White during your fight, and he was watching American Football.’ He had apparently placed a bet somewhere during my fight. I told Dana, ‘I’m not here to amuse you, I came here for the belt.’ I’ll take the belt, and then we’ll see” (h/t MMA Mania).
Evloev has his sights on a uFC featherweight title eliminator with Aljamain sterling
Having won eight in a row under the UFC banner, Movsar Evloev is sitting comfortably as the promotion’s No. 5 ranked featherweight. No announcements have been made regarding the Russian’s next opponent, but a potential title eliminator with former bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling appears to be in the cards.
The ‘Funk Master’ made his featherweight debut, delivering “the most dominant performance” of the night against Calvin Kattar at UFC 300.
If Aljamain Sterling can’t bag a fight with Brian Ortega, he can still score a scrap with the featherweight…
If Aljamain Sterling can’t bag a fight with Brian Ortega, he can still score a scrap with the featherweight division’s No. 5 ranked contender.
The ‘Funk Master’ made his successful debut in the featherweight division at UFC 300, offering up what he believes was “the most dominant performance” of the landmark event against Calvin Kattar. The win thrust Sterling immediately into the division’s top 10, occupying the No. 8 spot.
Afterward, Sterling called for a fight with Ortega. However, if that doesn’t come to fruition, the former bantamweight champ thinks a showdown with undefeated Russian standout Movsar Evloev could be a “fun” one.
“I would rather the Ortega fight because I’m gunning for the belt, so if there’s a fight, and you’re giving me the option to pick, I’m going to pick the highest ranked guy,” Sterling said on The MMA Hour. “It’s not that the fight with Movsar wouldn’t be fun. I think two grapplers, the way we grapple, would have some very fun scrambles…I think when you have a style like mine and his, it could make for a fun fight, the same way Diego Lopes made it a fun fight” (h/t MMA Mania).
Unbeaten Featherweight Movsar Evloev Responds to the ‘Funk Master’
Responding to Sterling’s comment, Evloev commended the ex-champ’s bravery for seeking a fight against him — something few featherweight contenders are willing to do these days.
“@funkmasterMMA brave for you to talk about me. I like it! Call UFC and fight me. I’m ready,” Evloev wrote on X.
Ali Abdelaziz didn’t hold back in his admiration for Movsar Evloev, even declaring him to be on par with several UFC icons. Evloev was supposed to square off against former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling on the UFC 307 main card, scheduled for October 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. However, on […]
I believe God has a plan and is protecting me to give my best for @MovsarUFC. I need all my tools for an opponent like Movsar and hopefully he’s willing to fight me when I’m healed up. Thank you to the @UFC medical team for looking out for my health and protecting me from myself.… pic.twitter.com/9nJVf14mew
The UFC has yet to officially confirm the cancellation, but Evloev has made it clear on social media that he’s been putting in the work for this fight. He’s even expressed his readiness to take on a short-notice opponent.
The 30-year-old Russian has been unstoppable since making his UFC debut in April 2019, where he announced his arrival with a commanding unanimous decision victory over SeungWoo Choi. Evloev has racked up eight consecutive victories inside the Octagon, all via decision. He has secured notable wins along the way, including victories over Dan Ige, Hakeem Dawodu, Diego Lopes, and, most recently, Arnold Allen at UFC 297 this past January.
Abdelaziz, who only began managing Evloev last month, is confident that the American Top Team standout has the potential to ascend to the same level of greatness as UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, and former welterweight titleholder Kamaru Usman.
Abdelaziz Predicts Evloev Will Capture UFC Featherweight Gold By 2025
During a recent interview with TMZSports, Abdelaziz opened up about Evloev’s relatively sparse appearances in the Octagon. The Dominance MMA founder expressed his commitment to working closely with the UFC to ensure his new client stays more active.
He emphasized that if frequent competition is what it takes for Evloev to earn his shot at the title, he’s fully prepared to make that happen.
“I believe that he should fight again in December or January,” Abdelaziz said. “I want to keep him busy. It doesn’t matter—Khabib had to beat 10 guys to fight for the title, same with Islam and Kamaru. If this is the route the UFC wants, he needs to just smash everyone ahead of him and show why the UFC has no choice but to give him a title shot. And guess what? He’s willing to fight anybody, anywhere, anytime. But the key here is to keep him busy against anybody, and this is what’s gonna happen.”
Abdelaziz further added that he recently trained with Evloev and described him as one of the most dedicated fighters he’s ever encountered. The renowned MMA manager even likened the Russian’s work ethic to that of Nurmagomedov, Makhachev, and Usman.
“I had the pleasure to train with [Evloev], and he’s one of the strongest guys I’ve ever trained with. He’s dedicated—this guy sleeps at a certain time, eats specific food, and lives and breathes fighting. I truly believe that by 2025, Movsar is going to be the featherweight champion. I believe he’s a very hard puzzle to solve and very hard to beat. The abilities he has, the discipline he has, remind me of Khabib, Islam, and Kamaru. He’s on the same level—how these guys live, how they walk, how they talk, how they train.”
Aljamain Sterling may not hold any ill-will against his next opponent but he does have some serious accusations about him. At UFC 307, the former bantamweight champion will look to produce back-to-back wins since moving up to featherweight. In order to build on his UFC 300 victory over Calvin Kattar, he will need to hand […]
The 18-0 Russian has clearly been one of the best in the division since his arrival in the UFC but in “Funkmaster”, faces a very tough test.
Sterling recently made some comments to suggest that all of Evloev’s accomplishments have been unfairly assisted during his career.
Aljamain Sterling Says He’s Heard Stories Of Movsar Evloev Being A Drug Cheat, Teaching Others His Methods
In a recent interview with Jake Noecker for Home of Fight, Sterling said that he believes that Evloev has been cheating at some stage in his career by using performance-enhancing drugs.
He said that he has his suspicions as to whether his upcoming opponent in Salt Lake City on October 5 is a clean athlete because of things that he has been told in the past.
Though he did make it very clear that he has no firm evidence of this, Sterling says that they have mutual friends that he used to train with, who are now a part of Evloev’s camp or were, at one point in time.
The former 135-pound king compared what he has heard to when Cody Garbrandt acted as a whistle-blower against his former teammate TJ Dillashaw and wasn’t taken seriously, only for the former champion to later test positive for EPO.
“I just think, from what I’ve heard through the grapevine, he’s not a clean athlete and I think that’s just what it comes down to and people can say whatever, ‘You have no proof.’ I’m like dude, the same thing people were saying about TJ Dillashaw from years ago, him teaching people how to do it, Cody Garbrandt calling him out at the press conference and everyone sweeping it under the rug, telling TJ to his face that you taught everyone how to do it. Those conversations are not very different from what I’ve had about Movsar and I think where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
“Do I have any hard evidence like did I see the guy stick a needle up his a**? No. Did he pop for anything yet? No, maybe he never will but at the day, only him and his consciousness will know if he’s truly a clean athlete or not and I really so believe, I truly do believe he knows he’s cheating. It is what it is, I’m gonna fight him, I’ve fought multiple guys who’ve done stuff, whether or not they got caught.”
UFC featherweight contender Diego Lopes will seemingly take nothing but a top five opponent for his planned appearance at the Sphere this fall — excluding Movsar Evloev. Lopes is a few weeks on from his latest success on mixed martial arts’ stage. The Mexico-based Brazilian had his hand raised in the UFC 303 co-main event, […]
UFC featherweight contender Diego Lopes will seemingly take nothing but a top five opponent for his planned appearance at the Sphere this fall — excluding Movsar Evloev.
Lopes is a few weeks on from his latest success on mixed martial arts’ stage. The Mexico-based Brazilian had his hand raised in the UFC 303 co-main event, ending what had been a tumultuous International Fight Week for him with a fourth straight win.
After original opponent Brian Ortega withdrew on the day having already forced a change in weight on the Friday, Lopes was left sharing the Octagon with Dan Ige on just hours’ notice.
But having been scheduled to do battle with higher-ranked featherweight in Brian Ortega, Lopes has little interest squaring off against Sterling or Evleov, and that’s in spite of the Russian sitting inside the top five.
“It doesn’t make sense now,” Lopes said when asked about possibly facing Sterling next (h/t MMA Fighting). “We were going to fight the number three in the world, then we fought the number 13 and went up two positions. The UFC has basically guaranteed me a fight with a top-five (opponent) now, so Aljamain Sterling makes no sense, and neither does a rematch with Movsar.
“They know I’m in a good spot right now, They know I was going to fight the number three in the world and I’m kicking down the door for a title fight, so they want the buzz for themselves,” Lopes continued. “It makes no sense for them to call me out since they’re ranked higher than me. It makes no sense, but they know I’m generating a lot (of buzz) with fans and the UFC.”
Sterling, meanwhile, acknowledged the Brazilian’s stance and readjusted his sights to Evloev, reiterating his willingness to face the unbeaten Russian at a September event.
Makes sense. Which is why I also asked for Ortega. But I’ll take the next highest ranked guy, but with proper time to prepare. No excuses and let the better man win. https://t.co/pKnIsYsxzI
A matchup between surging UFC featherweight contenders Bryce Mitchell and Movsar Evloev has been booked for November 5th. News of the Mitchell/Evloev booking was first reported by Fight Bananas. Mitchell returns to the Octagon following a unanimous dec…
A matchup between surging UFC featherweight contenders Bryce Mitchell and Movsar Evloev has been booked for November 5th. News of the Mitchell/Evloev booking was first reported by Fight Bananas. Mitchell returns to the Octagon following a unanimous decision win over Edson Barboza at UFC 272. He has won six fights in a row and is…
If Aljamain Sterling can’t bag a fight with Brian Ortega, he can still score a scrap with the featherweight…
