Movsar Evloev is keeping an extremely keen eye on the UFC 314 main event between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes this Saturday.
When Ilia Topuria shockingly announced he was vacating the featherweight title, it seemed as though Movsar Evloev was in a prime position to fight for the vacant title.
Despite that, Dana White announced that Alexander Volkanovski would take on Diego Lopes for the title, snubbing the undefeated Russian contender who is on a nine-fight win streak in the promotion, having already beaten Lopes.
White clearly isn’t a huge fan of Evloev’s wrestling-heavy style and even branded his UFC 297 win over Arnold Allen as ‘the least fun fight ever’.
Movsar Evloev’s team shut down recent fight rumors
Despite the 31-year-old seemingly being next in line to fight the winner of Volkanovski vs Lopes, rumors began to circulate earlier this week that Evloev has been booked to fight Aaron Pico.
Aaron Pico became a free agent last year when he couldn’t come to terms on a new deal with the PFL, joining a few other big names by leaving the promotion.
The 28-year-old is widely regarded as one of the most promising featherweight prospects in the world despite his start in the sport not having gone well, and UFC fans have been calling for his signing for a while now.
Despite the hype around Pico’s name, the rumor came as a huge shock, considering Evloev’s position in the featherweight rankings.
However, earlier today, Russian media outlet Red Fury MMA claimed that the rumored fight between Evloev and Pico is not happening after Evloev’s management decided to wait for the culmination of Volkanovski vs Lopes this Saturday.
That would seemingly make far more sense for the Russian, especially considering the fact that both Volkanovski and Lopes have highlighted him as their next opponent if they win the title.
Evloev could see similar path to title as Magomed Ankalaev
Although Evloev likely feels hard done by to have still not been granted a featherweight title shot, he may follow in the same footsteps as his countryman, Magomed Ankalaev.
Despite his impressive win streak at light heavyweight, Ankalaev was constantly snubbed for a title shot until the promotion could deny him no more.
The Russian then finally got his title shot against Alex Pereira earlier this year, becoming the new king at 205lbs.
