UFC 333 is still over a month and a half away, but the main event between featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and challenger Movsar Evloev is already heating up.
Volk and Evloev have been circling each other for over a year, with “The Great” calling for a match-up with the No. 1 contender repeatedly. Evloev’s grappling style and inability to earn finishes saw him get passed over twice by Diego Lopes, but his time will finally come in Abu Dhabi on October 24th.
In a new interview with MMA Junkie, the 32-year-old Evloev explained how he’d be the one to knock the 37-year-old Volkanovski off his perch.
“My skills are getting better,” Evloev said. “My striking, everyone noticed, is a little bit better than I do before. We’re confident to fight with a guy like Alex. We respect him. We’ll respect him even after we beat him. Nothing but respect. But this is my time.”
Volkanovski has suggested he’d knock back Evloev’s takedown attempts and turn the fight into a striking battle. That’s something Evloev laughed off.
“He’s been a little illogical,” Evloev suggested. “He said, ‘Don’t you dare to strike.’ And then, ‘We’ll be striking because I will make it striking fight.’ I will do anything I want. Whenever I decide to take him down, I will take him down.”
“I’m not scared of his striking skills, too. He’s great. But like I said, my time is coming. October 24th, everybody will see.”
Evloev sounded more than prepared to spam takedowns if Volkanovski’s ability to get back up is as good as the Australian has suggested.
“Even if he’s right, I will take him down as much as needed,” Evloev said. “If I need to take him down 100 times, even more, I will do it. It’s just 25 minutes. I will enjoy each second of this time. Even if I need to take him down every second, I will do it. Nobody will stop me.”
