Alexander
Volkanovski clearly considers Movsar
Evloev to be the most deserving title contender.
Volkanovski (28-4) has long been calling Evloev (20-0) the No. 1
featherweight title contender. However, Evloev has yet to get a
title shot, while his fallen opponent, Diego
Lopes, has challenged Volkanovski for the title twice. While
Volkanovski was ready to fight Evloev last year, Lerone
Murphy entered the title picture with a knockout win over
Aaron
Pico.
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Volkanovski was expecting to fight either Evloev or Murphy, but was
matched up for the second consecutive time against Lopes at
UFC 325 this past January. Volkanovski defeated Lopes the
second time as well.
Meanwhile, Evloev and Murphy clashed at
UFC London last weekend, in what was considered a clear title
eliminator. However, despite Evloev earning a majority decision win
over Murphy, the title picture remains hazy. Jean Silva
has now entered the fray, rallying for the next title shot against
Volkanovski. Dana White remained noncommittal when asked about both
Evloev and Silva’s chances for the next title shot.
However, Volkanovski has clearly expressed his preference in
defending his title against Evloev over Silva. Volkanovski notes
that Evloev has a superior resume with wins over the likes of
Lopes, Arnold
Allen, Aljamain
Sterling, and Murphy. Meanwhile, Silva suffered a stoppage loss
against Lopes, whom Volkanovski beat twice. While Volkanovski will
accept any fight that the UFC offers, “The Great” doesn’t want to
fight any more undeserving guys when there is a clear No.1
contender.
Building a Better Resume
“Without sounding cocky, I’m very confident I beat all these guys –
Silva, Lerone
Murphy, Movsar, obviously Lopes… If we talk about legacy, who
do we want?” Volkanovski said on YouTube. “I want the undefeated guy that’s beat
all the other contenders, all the top guys. Because beating him is
gonna look good on my resume because of already his record and who
he’s beat. But I’m confident he’s gonna keep beating all the other
fighters after that. So I know that’s still gonna age well. With
the Silva situation, he is yet to prove himself. He fought a top
guy and lost, a guy that I beat twice quite comfortably. And then I
go fight him and I beat him, which I’m quite confident I will do.
And then he starts losing to your Movsars and Lerone Murphys and
all that. People are gonna look back and go, ‘Why did he fight that
guy?’… Again, I’ll fight whoever the UFC says, but how many times
am I gonna fight guys that are undeserving when there’s a clear No.
1 guy?”