Movsar Evloev got the job done in his first fight back after more than a year out, and according to Ali Abdelaziz, the UFC liked what they saw from him.
In his first outing since his break, Evloev headlined UFC London against Lerone Murphy, who was entering the event on a ten-fight unbeaten streak.
The undefeated Russian started slow but picked up the pace midway through the fight and had more success as it went on.
In a close contest that went all five rounds, two judges scored it for Evloev while one saw it as a draw. The split decision win improved his record to 19-0.
Movsar Evloev’s performance was praised by the UFC
Although it looked as though this was a number one contender fight for the featherweight division, that came into question during fight week.
Jean Silva, who just recorded another knockout win over William Gomis on UFC 304, announced on social media that he would be travelling to London to speak with Dana White and Hunter Campbell about a title shot.
Following the slow-paced main event at UFC London, many fans immediately began speculating that Movsar Evloev could once again miss out on a title shot due to his performance.
Following White’s comments, Evloev’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, spoke up in defence of his client, claiming that he had received positive feedback from the UFC regarding Movsar’s performance.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Abdelaziz said: “The game has changed for all young fighters. Winning alone is not enough anymore. It’s about how you fight, how you make a statement, and how you show that you’re a complete fighter”.
“That’s exactly what Movsar did on Saturday night. One thing I can tell you is that everyone is happy. The UFC is happy, and they’ve been very complimentary about his performance. For the first time, I’m very grateful.”
This time around in 2024 though, it seems as if we saw Movsar bring something new to his game after spending three rounds standing up with Lerone Murphy before finding more success on the ground.
This suggests that perhaps Evloev didn’t want to grapple straight away, but turned to it after Lerone Murphy started getting more success inside the cage through three rounds.
Now all eyes are on Alexander Volkanovski and who he will decide to fight next, as both contenders believe they have done enough to earn themselves the next featherweight title shot.
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