Alexander Volkanovski says Movsar Evloev deserves next title shot

Alexander Volkanovski isn’t mincing his words when expressing who he thinks his next title challenger should be.

The current UFC featherweight champion has made it clear Movsar Evloev is the most deserving and most logical choice coming off a UFC London win over Lerone Murphy this past weekend in England.

Evloev improved to 20-0 in MMA and 10-0 in the UFC and is the only fighter to defeat Murphy, but Evloev has won all of his UFC bouts via distance.

The 32-year-old Russian held his spot as the 145-pound division’s No. 1 contender and sent a message to UFC matchmakers following his win.

“Volkanovski mentions my name all the time and I’m accepting his challenge. Let’s (expletive) fight,” Evloev said after a majority-decision victory. “And UFC, there is no excuses to not let me fight for the title. I have nothing to say.”

The fact Evloev has yet to finish a UFC opponent, plus some setbacks due to injuries and illness, has held him back from competing for the title thus far.

UFC president Dana White said over the weekend that Evloev is in “a great position” in the division but White would not commit to confirming the unbeaten standout wrestler will be Volkanovski’s next opponent.

Volkanovski reacted to Evloev’s win and the state of the weight class in a video blog posted Monday.

“Everyone knows what type of champion I am. I just don’t know how many times can I just keep not fighting the No. 1 contender?” Volkanovski asked rhetorically. “(Evloev) was already the No. 1 contender, just fought No. 3 (Murphy). Both of them guys were in front of everyone else, pretty much. Diego Lopes, he’s No. 2, but I’ve fought him twice, so these are the two top guys, and they had to face each other, and then you did have a winner. So, it’s obviously clearly going to be Movsar.

“I’m pretty sure (the UFC is) on the same page. They know I’ve wanted Movsar the whole time because he’s been No. 1 contender the whole time. I have fought other people to do the UFC a solid, but now I just feel like we’re taking the piss, and we’re going against what combat and martial arts has always been about. And that’s what I’ve always thought the UFC was about as well – where the best fight the best.”

Volkanovski has back-to-back wins over Diego Lopes during his second stint with the title.

A dark horse contender in the division is No. 6-ranked Jean Silva. The aggressive Brazilian is considered one of the most exciting fighters in the lower weight classes and is coming off a quality win over perennial top-10 contender Arnold Allen. Brazil’s Silva had been coming off a stoppage loss to Lopes in September.

The popular Australian champ feels confident in any matchup against other top featherweight talents, but lately Volkanovski has been considering his overall place in the sport’s history.

“Without sounding cocky, I’m very confident I beat all these guys,” Volkanovski explained. “Silva, Lerone Murphy, Movsar. All of them. … Then, if we talk legacy, who do we want? I want the undefeated guy that’s beat all the other contenders, all the top guys, because I know that beating him is going to look very good on my résumé because of his record and who he’s beat, but I’m confident he’s going to keep beating all these other fighters after that, so I know that’s going to age well.

“I’ll be honest, with the Silva situation, he’s yet to prove himself. He fought a top guy (Lopes) and lost. A guy that I beat twice quite comfortably. And then (hypothetically) I go fight him and I beat him, which I’m quite confident I’ll do without being cocky, and then he starts losing to your Movsars and your Lerone Murphys and all that, people are going to go, ‘Why’d he fight that guy?’

“Again, I’ll fight anybody the UFC say but how many times am I going to fight guys that are undeserving when there’s a clear No. 1 guy? I did that enough. … (Evloev has) clearly showed he’s the best.”

The 37-year-old is a two-time featherweight champion and the No. 4-ranked fighter on the UFC’s pound-for-pound list. Volkanovski’s only losses in the UFC have been to two-weight champions Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev.