Current and two-time UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is eager to find out who he will lock horns with next. Ahead of UFC London, “The Great” has given his two cents on this weekend’s headliner, which is a potential featherweight title eliminator bout between top and undefeated contenders Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy.
In a recent YouTube video, while weighing in on the impending high-stakes Evloev vs. Murphy bout, Volkanovski said he believes Evloev will snatch Murphy’s undefeated record.
The Australian, who wants to fight Evloev next, says the Russian fighter’s wrestling-heavy approach will be effective against a striker like Murphy, and Evloev will be able to cruise to another unanimous decision victory. Volkanovski said:
“I think that Movsar is able to control him… I think Lerone might have rounds where he does a better job, but I think pretty consistently, Movsar will be able to get the takedowns and win the rounds because of it. So yeah, that’s gonna be my take. So I am gonna have to go with Movsar by decision.”
Volkanovski added that a sniper like “The Miracle” will definitely look to hurt Evloev, but the latter will do enough ‘to be safe’ and win the rounds by “keep edging” Murphy.
Check out Alexander Volkanovski’s comments below:
Evloev, on the other hand, has said in a recent interview with Michael Bisping that he’s ready to go all five rounds with Murphy but will be aiming to secure his first UFC finish this time.
Alexander Volkanovski would prefer to fight Movsar Evloev next
Alexander Volkanovski wants to fight Movsar Evloev next to prove that he can solve the Dagestani and Chechen wrestling puzzle. Volkanovski’s fight IQ was highly effective against wrestling maestro Islam Makhachev when they first met at UFC 284.
Although “The Great” lost the title bout, he landed more significant strikes, more total strikes, and even secured close to three minutes of control time compared to Makhachev’s 7 minutes and 37 seconds.
The Australian successfully defended five of Makhachev’s takedowns but was unable to score any of his own. After the UFC 284 bout, Volkanovski proved to the MMA world that even the Dagestani wrestling style paired with sambo can be neutralized.
And now the 37-year-old plans to showcase that again against the undefeated Movsar Evloev, if the latter wins this Saturday. During the same video mentioned above, Alexander Volkanovski said:
This [superior Dagestani and Chechen wrestling] has been a problem for fighters. A lot of fighters don’t know how to deal with this. You’ve got Chimaev just out grappling, Islam wrestling, all these guys that have been so effective with their Dagestani wrestling, the Chechen wrestling, and a lot of people can’t figure it out. You’ve seen in my fight with Islam that I can deal with that, and I’d love to get a guy who, if he wins against Lerone, he’s gonna be 20-0… I get to take out that newest era style… I think that is bigger for my legacy… If I had to chose who I’d prefer, it will probably be Movsar just because of [his fight style].”
Check out Alexander Volkanovski’s comments below:
