Uh-oh.
No. 1-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight Movsar Evloev and No. 3-seeded Lerone Murphy collide in the main event of UFC London this weekend (Sat., March 21, 2026) inside the O2 Arena in London, England — and the stakes might be even higher than expected.
On paper, the winner is in prime position to earn the next title shot against champion Alexander Volkanovski later this year.
But there’s a catch.
If the fight fails to deliver, the promotion may pivot — and it looks like
they’re already preparing for that possibility.
Enter Jean Silva.
The surging Brazilian madman confirmed via social media that he’s been invited by UFC brass to attend the event in London, where he’ll be watching the main event from cageside.
“We are going to travel, invited by Dana White and Hunter (Campbell), to watch Evloev’s fight against Lerone Murphy closely and sign the contract for the belt,” Silva said. “It’s going to be the biggest promotion people have ever seen in history when that contract for the belt gets signed, because I’m going to sell this fight. After that boring fight [Evloev vs. Murphy], I’m going to go up there and hand both of them their termination.”
That’s one way to sell yourself for a title shot.
Of course, Silva may be getting a bit ahead of himself. Just last month, Volkanovski dismissed the idea of Silva jumping the line, stating that the winner of Evloev vs. Murphy is the most deserving next contender, and he “hasn’t earned it.”
Still, recent matchmaking suggests nothing is guaranteed.
Take Nassourdine Imavov, for example. After securing a No. 1 contender win over Caio Borralho at UFC Paris last year, many expected him to get the next title shot — but after a ho-hum performance, he was leapfrogged by Sean Strickland (details here).
If Evloev vs. Murphy turns into a snoozer, history could repeat itself.
And if that happens, Silva will be sitting cageside… ready to make his case.
Time will tell.
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