Daniel Cunningham
This past Saturday in the main event of UFC London, we saw a potential title eliminator in the featherweight division. Two undefeated top contenders clashed as Movsar Evloev (20-0) took on England’s Lerone Murphy (17-1-1).
Heading into the fight, I figured it was a pretty straightforward breakdown. Evloev would need to get takedowns while Murphy would need to keep things standing. Well, for the first few rounds, Evloev didn’t even try to take the fight to the ground.
The first three rounds were primarily striking rounds, but Evloev held his own in the striking. That said, through three rounds, I had Murphy up 2-1 on my card. Evloev controlled the final two rounds so you would think it was a clear 48-47 decision for Evloev.
Well, Evloev got a point taken away in the third round for a second low kick that landed. Meaning, he would have to win four rounds on the cards to get a win at UFC London. While I did think Evloev was the better fighter on Saturday night, no way did I feel like he won four out of the five rounds.
One judge had it 47-47 which was my card but two of the judges did give Evloev four rounds which gave him the majority decision win on Saturday night.
What’s next after UFC London?
Heading into this fight, it felt very clear that the winner would get the next shot at featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. That said, I leave the fight on Saturday night not thinking that the outcome is so clear.
Yes, Movsar Evloev is the top contender in the division and he’s undefeated. That said, we know the UFC isn’t always about meritocracy and we know that they really want entertainment. Movsar Evloev is not an entertaining fighter for the masses and that might hurt him here.
I do believe that he should get the shot and I would give him the shot if I was match making. However, I could see a world where the UFC gives the next shot to Jean Silva instead. Perhaps there’s a world where Evloev does fight for the title in his next fight, but he’s also not the next challenger.
He’s not been the most active fighter in the world so perhaps Volkanovski and Silva fight over the summer with Evloev facing the winner in the fall. I do believe he fights for the title in his next fight, I’m just not convinced he’s next for Alexander Volkanovski.
More about:MMA
