Petr Yan Reveals Why Alexander Volkanovski Is a Difficult Matchup for Movsar Evloev

Both ‌Russian contenders will feature on the UFC 333 fight card scheduled to take place on 24 October at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. 

Evloev will headline the event when he takes on the reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. And his compatriot shared their two cents on the fight. 

Petr Yan on Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev

When asked to share his thoughts on the title fight in an interview with UFC Eurasia, Yan clearly gave an edge to the champion. And he has his reasons for it. 

Yan highlighted champion Volkanovski’s striking and strong ground defense as a threat to the challenger. To back his statement, Yan cited Volkanovski's first fight with Islam Makhachev in 2023, where he took the fight to distance. 

“It’s an interesting matchup. 55/45 in favor of Volkanovski. Movsar is younger and more motivated, but he still has to beat today’s version of Volkanovski,” Yan said.

Yan believes that if the champion is in good shape, taking the fight to a distance would not be the best option for Evloev. He advises Evloev to look for a finish. 

“Movsar will need to either submit him or knock him out. Volkanovski is good on the feet and has good defensive wrestling,” Yan added. 

Although Evloev is capable on his feet, he prefers to take his fights to the ground. The Russian excels at controlling his opponents on the mat. 

However, he hasn’t secured a finish in his10 UFC wins. Thus, it will be interesting to see if he can change his ways in this fight. 

Alexander Volkanovski Might Retire if He Loses

‘The Great’ enters his ninth UFC fight at UFC 333. He has held the featherweight title twice and only lost it to Ilia Topuria in 2024. 

Now, in his second reign, Volkanovski enters his second title defense against Evloev. Although the 38-year-old has no plans to retire, he bluntly admitted it depends on a fight-by-fight basis. 

Volkanovski (28-4) stated that if the Evloev fight “goes terribly” wrong, he might consider hanging up his gloves. However, he is not yet sure of it. 

Having built his career on an incredible title reign and accepting high-profile short-notice bouts, ‘The Great’ has nothing left to prove. 

Thus, if he decides to sail into the sunset after UFC 333, Volkanovski will still leave behind a legacy that MMA fans will celebrate for years to come.