Movsar Evloev Eyes First UFC Finish in Volkanovski Title Fight

Movsar Evloev has won 20 professional fights and finished none of them inside the Octagon. On Saturday in Abu Dhabi, he gets the biggest stage of his career to change that — a featherweight title shot against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 333 — and he's floated the idea of making his first UFC finish his most important one.

Evloev is 20-0 as a pro and 10-0 since his 2019 UFC debut, a clean sheet built almost entirely on decisions. He told MMA Fighting's José Youngs that his style may have slowed his path to a title shot, but that he's added tools since his last win and feels he now has everything he needs to close the show. His line on the matter was blunt: a first finish in a first title fight? Why not.

The Resume Behind the Decisions

Whatever the lack of highlight-reel moments, the names on Evloev's ledger are serious. His last four wins came against Lerone Murphy, Aljamain Sterling, Arnold Allen and Diego Lopes — three of whom sit inside the division's top rankings, with Sterling at No. 4 and Allen at No. 7. Lopes, notably, jumped the queue past Evloev and fought Volkanovski twice for the belt. Beating ranked opposition on repeat is how Evloev argues he's earned this the hard way.

He's also used that record to make a point about the UFC's roster math. Evloev noted that he's still employed and fighting for gold despite zero finishes, while plenty of exciting fighters get cut — he pointed to undefeated Farid Basharat, released recently at 16-0. His read: winning matters, and so does showing a compelling fight, wrestling included. There's an audience, he argued, that doesn't just show up for blood.

Volkanovski, for his part, has suggested the wrestling alone won't get it done and that Evloev will eventually have to stand and trade. The champ brings a 28-4 record (13 KO, 3 SUB) and his second reign at 145, having returned to the top with a unanimous-decision win over Lopes. He's not the type to get grappled into submission quietly.

Evloev isn't biting on the bait, though. He framed the title as bigger than ego — the whole republic's watching, he said — so the plan is to stay disciplined first and gamble later. His theory on a knockout is backwards from how most people would phrase it: his wrestling working is exactly what sets up the finish, grinding Volkanovski down until the stoppage is there to take. And on the champ's promise to break his confidence, Evloev's answer was short. Nobody can.