Alexander Volkanovski wants the UFC to do the right thing.
This past Saturday, Movsar Evloev extended his career résumé to 20-0, winning a majority decision over Lerone Murphy in the main event of UFC London. The win is also Evloev’s tenth in the UFC, and further solidified his position as the No. 1-ranked featherweight in the promotion.
And yet, it’s an open question about whether Evloev will get the next crack at Volkanovski’s featherweight title, with UFC CEO Dana White being noncommittal on the subject
after the event, and Jean Silva lobbying hard for his shot at the belt.
But Volkanovski hopes the promotion sees reason.
“People are going to throw out Silva. I don’t even know how people are really throwing that out. I’m quite certain it’s Movsar,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “Obviously, the UFC, you never know. …
“Everyone knows what type of champion I am. I just don’t know how many times I can keep not fighting the No. 1 contender? He was a No. 1 contender. He was already the No. 1 contender. Just fought No. 3. Both of them guys were in front of everyone else, pretty much. Diego Lopes, he’s No. 2, but I’ve fought him twice. So these are the two top guys, and they had to face each other. And then you did have a winner.
“So, it’s obviously clearly going to be Movsar. Everyone knows I’m a pretty easy champ to understand, and I will fight the best. But even if the UFC pushes something, I’m like, yeah, whatever. But it’s going to come to a point where it’s like, ‘What are we doing here?’”
That’s a question fans have been asking of the UFC increasingly lately. Earlier this year, the UFC skipped over both Evloev and Murphy to award another title shot to Diego Lopes, despite Volkanovski beating Lopes convincingly just 10 months prior. He did the same at UFC 325 in February, and Volkanovski hopes that’s the last time he has to do that.
“Again, I’ll fight whoever the UFC say, but how many times am I just going to fight guys that are undeserving when there’s a clear No. 1 guy?” Volkanovski said. “I did that enough. I’m in a situation now where I’m going to be like, ‘Come on, this is getting ridiculous. Now you’re making me look like the bad guy by not fighting the No. 1 guy as well.’ I don’t want anything to do with that. I want the best guys. He’s clearly showed he’s the best. …
“I have fought other people to do the UFC a solid, but now I just feel like we’re taking the piss, and we’re going against what combat and martial arts has always been about. And that’s what I’ve always thought the UFC was about as well: where the best fight the best. We’ve always talked about boxing not doing that, but UFC have. And we always have. Let’s not start changing that now.”
It remains to be seen how the UFC will handle the featherweight title situation, because while many fans believe Evloev deserves to finally fight for the title, some push back on the idea of having a “boring” fighter possibly hold the belt. But for those who fall into that camp, Volkanovski is happy to assuage their fears.
“What I love about it is I don’t care about it, because I know it ain’t going to be a boring fight with me, because you ain’t holding me down,” Volkanovski said. “I can guarantee you that. That’s one thing that I’m very confident in.
“I believe it will be a fun fight. I want him to do whatever he thinks he can. I want him to just try and win. He’s obviously a winner. He knows how to win. And I want him to try that with me, just to show him that, yeah, you know how to win, but not against me. You don’t know how to win against me. I can really prove that, and I’m confident in that.
“Again, he’s a great fighter. I think he’s a very hard fight for everyone. Just not me. I just think I’ve got all these guys covered, even now at 37.”
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VIDEO STEW
Ben Askren interview.
Best UFC knee KOs of all time.
Cooking with Volk.
Aljamain Sterling talks about UFC London.
FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR
Fighter vs. Writer.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Movsar.
Prates is getting ready.
Look, it’s off blocks, not the floor, and with a trap bar, but he’s moving that easily.
Soon.
Probably better than what the UFC gives us, even if it is AI.
Hurray……
FINAL THOUGHTS
You’ve gotta respect Volkanovski basically backing the UFC into a corner on this one. He’s right. Let justice be served. Evloev deserves his day in court. Props to the champ for pushing for that.
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