Champ Alexander Volkanovski reacts to Movsar Evloev's UFC London win
· Yahoo Sports
Alexander Volkanovski was pleasantly surprised with Movsar Evloev's performance at UFC Fight Night 270.
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Evloev (20-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) overcame a point deduction to defeat Lerone Murphy (17-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) by majority decision in Saturday's main event at The O2 in London.
UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski wasn't expecting Evloev to opt to strike with Murphy, but thinks the Russian fighter has done enough to earn a title shot – even though Jean Silva has been hinting otherwise prior to the fight.
"It was an interesting one," Volkanovski said during the UFC on Paramount+ post-fight show. "I don't think we all expected Movsar to just want to stand with Lerone. Whether that was something that he felt he had to do to just so he can guarantee himself a title shot, I'm not too sure. But you could see he was a lot stronger when he wanted to take it down, and then was able to out-do him on the feet. So for me, it's quite impressive, to be honest. Fair play to him. He's 20-0 now, and I guess he's next."
Evloev's resume now includes wins over Diego Lopes, Arnold Allen, Aljamain Sterling, and Murphy. During his post-fight interview, Evloev said let's make the fight happen before Volkanovski gets too old, which drew a chuckle from the champion.
"This old man still has some tricks left, so bring it on," Volkanovski responded while targeting a July or August return.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Alexander Volkanovski on Evloev's UFC London win: 'I guess he's next'