LOS ANGELES – Alexander Volkanovski and Movsar Evloev have taken a long road to the championship main event of UFC 333, but that won’t be the first time the featherweights have crossed paths.
MMA Fighting’s José Young spoke to Volkanovski and Evloev during UFC 331 fight week in Los Angeles, and learned more about how the fighters trained together years ago when Volkanovski was on his way to the top of the 145-pound division, while Evloev was wrapping up a run as M-1 bantamweight champion.
“I used to be a bantamweight at that time, it was before UFC,” Evloev said. “We just had a couple of rounds and yeah, we trained at the same gym before. Now he has his own gym in Thailand.
“He had just fought with [Chad] Mendes and he was about to fight with [Jose] Aldo.”
Fast forward to now, Volkanovski is in his second reign as featherweight champion, having lost just once in his illustrious career when competing at 145 pounds. On the other side, Evloev has never been defeated, having boosted his pro record to 20-0 with a majority decision win over Lerone Murphy this past March.
Volkanovski recalls working with Evloev, but isn’t dwelling on the past.
“I do remember us training, it was a long time ago,” Volkanovski said. “You can’t go off training sessions then. As he said, he would have been young. All I worry about is how he’s been looking in his last few performances.
“I think I know a few of the people he knows as well, so there’s no ill feeling toward each other, he’s a good dude, I’ve got a lot of respect for him, but come Oct. 24, we’re going to go handle business and I plan on showing him that I’m the man.”
Soon to be 38, Volkanovski is still competing at an elite level, having bounced back from a loss to Ilia Topuria with back-to-back title fight wins over Diego Lopes. Evloev hopes to see the best version of Volkanovski on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi, so the discussion in the aftermath is more about his ascendance than Volkanovski’s decline.
“I’m expecting him to be at this level that when I beat him, nobody will say he’s not like before,” Evloev said. “‘He’s still good, but this guy is special.’ I used to beat champions before UFC and when I beat them, people used to say, ‘OK, they wasn’t that good like before. Maybe they get old or did not have good camps.’ But I don’t want to hear this one again, so I want him to be in his prime, in the best condition, so I can show my skills.”
Volkanovski is promising to be at his best when he faces Evloev, though the challenger might regret what he’s wishing for.
“I truly do believe after this fight, people will be saying, ‘That’s one of Alex’s best performances we’ve seen,’” Volkanovski said. “Does that mean I’m in my prime? Does that mean this is the best Volk that there ever was? No, I’m not saying that, but I’m saying stylistically in the fight I’m going to bring, I truly believe people will be saying that this is the best version of Alex they’ve ever seen.”
