Alexander Volkanovski respects Movsar Evloev's résumé but has clear message before UFC 333

Say what you will about Movsar Evloev's fighting style, but UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski knows one thing for sure.

"He knows how to win," Volkanovski said in a UFC on Paramount+ interview with Megan Olivi. "He's undefeated, right?"

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Evloev (20-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) sure is, but Volkanovski (28-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) plans to hand the Russian standout his first loss when they square off in the UFC 333 main event Oct. 24 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. While he's a proven winner, Evloev hasn't exactly wowed anyone with finishes. Of his 20 career wins, 13 have gone to the judges' scorecards, including all 10 UFC appearances after he most recently defeated Leron Murphy by majority decision this past March.

Despite what critics, such as UFC legend Demetrious Johnson, might think of Evloev as a boring fighter, Volkanovski acknowledges "he's definitely the one who deserves the shot." As far as claiming the belt, though, that's a different story as Volkanovski made it clear that he believes Evloev's wrestling-heavy approach is good enough to work on everyone – except him.

"I think he's the best outside myself," Volkanovski said. "I think he beats everyone else in the division. But when it comes to matchup stylistically, I believe (he is) one of the better matchups for me. I look at him being a bad matchup for everyone else except for me. I look at other fighters that probably got more of a threat (against me). He's more well rounded, he's got a lot more tools, a lot more things he can do, but all these other things that give so many other people problems, they just don't give me any problem."

Given Evloev's propensity for decisions, Volkanovski simply doesn't see that working out well for him.

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"To try and beat me for 25 minutes is a pretty hard task," Volkanovski said. "… I just don't think anyone can beat me for 25 minutes. I know that's his usual path to victory. It's just not happening with me. I truly do believe that. I've got a lot of respect for him, I've got a lot of respect for his skills, but them skills just aren't effective for me. They're effective for everyone else, just not me."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Alexander Volkanovski respects Movsar Evloev's résumé but has clear message before UFC 333