Outside Source
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.
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?”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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