Alexander Volkanovski’s wish to defend his UFC featherweight title against Movsar Evloev next has been shut down.
At UFC 314 this past April, Alexander Volkanovski recaptured the UFC featherweight title when he put on a vintage performance against Diego Lopes, winning the fight by a dominant unanimous decision.
Following the fight, Alexander ‘The Great’ made it very clear that for his first title defense of his second 145lb title reign, he wanted to fight the undefeated Russian, Movsar Evloev.
With Evloev having been waiting for a title shot for some time now, it seemed inevitable that these two would clash next, with Evloev even promising to only strike with Volkanovski if he was given the fight.
Movsar Evloev accepts a different fight despite Volkanovski interest
Despite the mutual interest in a title fight between Volkanovski and Evloev, the 19-0 featherweight took to social media this past Thursday evening to reveal that he has accepted a different fight.
“If you are a UFC fighter and believe you are the best in the world then you have to fight every fight they throw at you, no risk no reward. See you guys in July, it’s ON #UFCAbuDhabi,” Evloev stated.
“Thank you Alexander Volkanovski for trying to fight me, I will fight in July and you fight in September, hopefully we both win and we can meet in December,” he continued.
Bloody Elbow sources have indicated that the fight Evloev has taken will be against the recently-signed Bellator prospect, Aaron Pico. The bout will be a five-round co-main event on the July 26 UFC Fight Night event in Abu Dhabi.
The Russian was previously linked to a fight against Pico when he first joined, but prior to UFC 314, Evloev and his team shut down the potential fight.
Who will Alexander Volkanovski fight next instead?
With Evloev claiming that Volkanovski will be fighting in September, that suggests that the promotion is potentially targeting the Australian to headline the Noche UFC event at UFC 320.
UFC 320 was hit with a huge blow earlier this week as the Arena Guadalajara that was supposed to host it was hit with several opening delays, meaning it is no longer available for September 13.
It remains to be seen whether the promotion will continue with their plan to host the event in Guadalajara as they were aware of construction delays when they announced their plans.
Despite that, with it being an event to celebrate Mexican Independence Day, rumors have begun to circulate that Volkanovski could end up defending his title against Yair Rodriguez in the main event.
Rodriguez picked up an impressive win over Patricio Pitbull at UFC 314, however, it remains to be seen whether the Mexican did enough to warrant another title shot against Volkanovski.