Movsar Evloev picked up an opponent on the list

One of the brightest domestic fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA), Movsar Evloev, got a chance to take part in the fight for the title of UFC champion, the main promotion in this kind of promotion, in featherweight (up to 66 kg). In order to strengthen the reputation of an unconditional contender for the title, Movsar Evloev, who still does not have a single misfire in his track record, will need to deal in November with the American Bryce Mitchell, who has also not yet suffered defeat in MMA.

The main promotion in mixed martial arts, the UFC, has confirmed that the central fight of its tournament, which will be held on November 5 in Las Vegas, will be a fight between American Bryce Mitchell and Russian Movsar Evloev in the category up to 66 kg. Website MMA Junkieone of the most popular in MMA coverage, commenting on the news, described the upcoming match as an “exciting” rivalry.

There is nothing strange in this, given the importance of the fight and the details of the biographies of its participants. ESPN, which will be broadcasting the November tournament, boldly called them “contenders” for the featherweight title, essentially making it clear that the winner may well be given a chance after him to fight for the title. It is currently owned by Australian Alexander Volkanovski. The 34-year-old veteran is one of the UFC’s brightest stars and is currently at the top of his list of top fighters, regardless of weight class. The problem is that Volkanovski has essentially reigned supreme in the featherweight division for quite some time now, since 2019. And the most dangerous among his experienced rivals – Max Holloway – he managed to defeat as many as three times.

In such situations, in order to avoid “stagnation” and stir up interest in the title draw, the UFC, like other promotions, is trying to pull up one of the younger athletes. And 28-year-old Movsar Evloev looks like an ideal candidate in this sense.

As a future MMA star, Evloev, who was seriously engaged in Greco-Roman wrestling before mixed martial arts, was talked about even before the athlete signed a contract with the UFC.

He got into the promotion in 2019 and only strengthened his reputation with his performances. In the UFC, Evloev spent six fights and won everything. The Russian had no early victories, but, as a rule, he had a huge advantage over his rivals. And this applies not only to the usual work for Evloev in the stalls, but also to the stand.

At the same time, you need to know that his opponents were mostly famous fighters with ambitions – such as Enrique Barzola, Mike Grundy, Nick Lentz, Hakim Davodu. In his last fight – in June of this year – Evloev dealt with with the American Dan Ige, surprising the experts with the persuasiveness of winning against a classy opponent.

However, about the same can be said about Bryce Mitchell, who is a little younger than Movsar Evloev and, unlike the Russian, specialized in freestyle wrestling and jiu-jitsu in his youth.

Mitchell also has an unblemished record of 15 victories, including six of those since moving to the UFC against tough opponents like Edson Barbosa, whom he defeated in March. In the ranking of the strongest UFC featherweights, Bryce Mitchell and Movsar Evloev are located side by side today – in ninth and tenth positions. But after the November duel, one of them will skyrocket in the hierarchy.

Alexey Dospekhov