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Check out the best photos from Movsar Evloev’s unanimous decision win over Arnold Allen at UFC 297 in Toronto.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag]’s unanimous decision win over [autotag]Arnold Allen[/autotag] at UFC 297 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. (Photos by Dan Hamilton, USA Today Sports)
Arnold Allen is confident a win over Movsar Evloev at Saturday’s UFC 297 gets him back in title contention.
TORONTO – [autotag]Arnold Allen[/autotag] is confident he’ll prove he’s among the top title contenders this Saturday – even though he’s not fighting a top-five opponent.
Allen (19-2 MMA, 10-1 UFC) takes on [autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag] in the opening bout of the UFC 297 main card. The British fighter admits he wanted an opponent ranked higher than Evloev (17-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), but he had problems getting the bigger names. Despite fighting down the rankings, Allen believes he’s in a much tougher fight.
“I think he’s a really good athlete, a really good fighter, highly skilled. Yeah, a dangerous opponent,” Allen said at the UFC 297 media day on Wednesday. “I can kind of relate to those feelings when I was coming up when I wanted to fight top guys and no one wanted to give up their rankings to fight someone below them. There are tougher fighters outside of that. Sometimes I look up, and I see someone ranked higher than me, and he’s an easier fight than this one. It’s very easy to be No. 3 and be like, ‘I’m only fighting No. 2 or 1. Everyone does that. It sucks.”
Allen hasn’t fought since April 2023 when his 12-fight unbeaten streak was snapped by a unanimous decision loss to former champion Max Holloway. If victorious over Evloev, Allen believes he’ll be back in the title picture at 145 pounds.
“I want to be world champion, and I think this is the fight that puts me back into the title picture,” Allen said. “After the Holloway fight, I was asking for Ortega. Same thing I was saying earlier, he was a fight I thought was easier than these guys down the line, and he was a higher-ranked guy, so it made sense. I don’t want easy matchups. This guy is tougher. He’s undefeated and wants to prove his own claim at a title, and I want to show I’m still there in that picture.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.
Ahead of UFC 297, Movsar Evloev discussed Arnold Allen, Max Holloway and where he thinks a win will land him in the featherweight division.
TORONTO – [autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag] isn’t sure if one more win will earn him a UFC title shot but thinks a finish should do the trick.
With perennial No. 1 contender Max Holloway on his way up to lightweight for a UFC 300 showdown with Justin Gaethje, Evloev (17-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) sees a decisive victory Saturday over Arnold Allen (19-2 MMA, 10-1 UFC) at UFC 297 as a potential ticket to a championship fight vs. the winner of Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria.
“I’m so excited because this fight can give me a big opportunity to be the next contender for the title,” Evloev told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “… It depends, the way I can finish him, but yeah, I think I’m the next.”
There’s part of Evloev that’s focused on the title. Holloway’s divisional departure rids the path of one potential road block. However, there’s another part of Evloev that wishes “Blessed” stuck around.
“I think Max is a big legend in our division,” Evloev said. “Of course, my big dream is to fight with him. I hope he will come back from lightweight to featherweight. We’ll see, because he’s not so big and his cut is not so hard.”
As for who he could be fighting when a belt is on the line, Evloev said he predicts Volkanovski retains Feb. 17 at UFC 298 – even if he’d prefer Topuria.
“Maybe it will be better for me if (Ilia) wins,” Evloev said. “We have history. This fight makes sense to be. … Both guys are tough but my favorite is still the champ. … Let’s see after this next fight, (then) we’ll think about this.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.
Before UFC 297 on Saturday, the main card and prelim fighters are scheduled to speak to reporters at media day.
TORONTO – UFC 297 takes place Saturday at Scotiabank Arena with a main card that airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
Before fight night arrives, though, notable athletes from the card spoke to reporters Wednesday at media day.
If you happen to miss any of the individual sessions on the live stream, check below for the archived videos of each fighter’s session.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.
The best facts and figures about UFC 297, which sees Dricus Du Plessis’ strong offense put Sean Strickland’s record defense to the test.
The UFC on Saturday returns to Toronto for the first time since December 2018 with UFC 297 at Scotiabank Arena.
The first numbered event of the year features a title fight doubleheader. In the main event, [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) will attempt to defend the middleweight title against [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] (20-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC. In the co-headliner, [autotag]Raquel Pennington[/autotag] (15-8 MMA, 12-5 UFC) and [autotag]Mayra Bueno Silva[/autotag] (10-2-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC) are set to clash for the vacant women’s bantamweight belt.
For more on the numbers behind all four championship competitors, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts for UFC 297 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
Movsar Evloev has done nothing but win since his UFC debut in 2019. But in his nearly five years on the roster, he hasn’t finished anyone.
TORONTO – [autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag] has done nothing but win since he debuted with the UFC in April 2019. But in his nearly five years on the roster, he hasn’t been able to stop an opponent.
The unbeaten featherweight contender hopes to change that on Saturday, however, when Evloev (17-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) meets Arnold Allen (19-2 MMA, 10-1 UFC) on the UFC 297 main card at Scotiabank Arena. After going to the scorecards in all of his octagon appearances to do date, there would be no bigger and better moment to do something different this time around, and his head coach, Marcos “Parrumpa” DaMatta of American Top Team, admits awareness of the opportunity.
“It’s something on the back of his mind,” DaMatta told MMA Junkie. “It’s not that he doesn’t want to finish. It’s that he’s still developing some kind of his game to actually get to the finish. Nowadays it’s kind of hard to finish someone that actually knows jiu-jitsu, because everyone trains jiu-jitsu now. So there’s other ways to finish with striking, with using striking to go into submissions. We’re trying to put that into his game, so that’s always something that’s on the back of his mind.”
Despite his lack of stoppage results, Evloev has been a largely dominant force inside the cage. He’s completed 34 combined takedowns in his six fights under the UFC banner, and is coming off a Fight of the Night win over Diego Lopes at UFC 288 in May.
Now it’s time for Evloev, No. 8 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie featherweight rankings, to fight up against No. 7-ranked Allen. It’s a step up on paper, but DaMatta thinks his student has been ready for this, and will show as much on fight night.
“It’s a fight that he wanted, the type of fight that he wanted for a long time,” DaMatta said. “He’s trying to get ahead in the rankings, fighting people ahead of him. It didn’t play out very well in the past when we were supposed to fight Bryce Mitchell. Unfortunately Bryce got hurt. This is the fight that we need to make Movsar excel and get into the top five and maybe get into title contention conversation. He goes there and finishes Allen, who is an amazing fighter and very durable, very well-rounded. If he finishes Allen, we have another contender. I believe undefeated, being the faithful guy he is with his religion and everything, I think he’s ready to bring him to the next level.”
All the opportunity for Evloev to do something significant at UFC 297 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+). The 145-pound title will be on the line in just over one month at UFC 298 in Anaheim, Calif., when Alexander Volkanovski takes on Ilia Topuria.
DaMatta isn’t certain a win for Evloev will get him the next title shot. However, given his history of multiple canceled fights with Topuria (13-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC), and Volkanovski (26-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) needing fresh contenders if he continues to rule the division, Evloev would be in an advantageous spot if he gets his hand in the right fashion raised this weekend.
“It’s all about finishes,” DaMatta said. “Let’s put a scenario like this: He finishes Allen, then all of a sudden Topuria wins the title. Everyone knows that him and Topuria don’t like each other. Everybody knows there was a couple times they were supposed to fight and it didn’t happen. It could be a title shot right there. Or he needs to fight a couple more times. It’s all about this next couple months. It’s all about Saturday. It’s all about next month Volkanovski and Ilia. What’s Max (Holloway) going to do? So many things that will play out. We just need to finish people.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.
Arnold Allen thinks he could have drawn a bigger name with less threat than Movsar Evloev.
[autotag]Arnold Allen[/autotag] thinks he could have drawn a bigger name with less threat than [autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag].
Allen (19-2 MMA, 10-1 UFC) meets undefeated Evloev (17-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) at UFC 297 on Jan. 20 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
Both Allen and Evloev have often been dubbed as dark horses in the featherweight division. After getting his win streak snapped by former champion Max Holloway in his past outing, Allen admits he was looking to face a more notable name than Evloev.
“He’s very highly touted,” Allen said on Evloev in an interview with Violent Money TV. “I think there was some easier fights with higher-ranked guys. We were asking straight up for (Brian) Ortega after the Holloway fight – the bigger name, the bigger fight – and obviously he was out for a while. Then I think they just want to make him and Yair (Rodriguez) rematch down the line.
“I think that’s what they’re doing now. There’s some easier matchups and higher-ranked guys, but I think he’s a very credible opponent and the rankings are kind of chosen, aren’t they? So if you go on the official rankings – not the UFC rankings, the Fight Matrix ones – he’s much higher than they have him.”
Even though Evloev may not be the biggest name at featherweight, Allen sees the perks with a win over him.
“It’s a tough test,” Allen continued. “And I think beating an undefeated guy and taking his hype and taking his undefeated record away, that’s a lot bigger than beating a No. 3 guy that’s on a skid or something.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.
All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.
MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.
But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.
Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Oct. 2-8.
The rumored UFC return to Toronto targets Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev to its 2024 fight card.
A key featherweight bout is targeted for the first UFC pay-per-view of 2024.
At UFC 297 on Jan. 20, contenders [autotag]Arnold Allen[/autotag] (19-2 MMA, 10-1 UFC) and [autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag] (17-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) will collide in a three-round bout, pending finalization. While no location has been announced for the event, Toronto has been rumored as the frontrunner.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the targeted booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. News of the matchup was first reported by Twitter user @judobetter995 with the date first reported by ING.fights.
Allen, 29, looks to bounce back from a loss to Max Holloway in April. Despite a five-round unanimous decision defeat, Allen was competitive and was cheered heavily by the Kansas City, Mo. crowd for his effort. The defeat was his first in the UFC and snapped a 12-fight winning streak.
Evloev, 29, is a former M-1 Global champion who’s struggled to find willing opponents in the UFC. Key victories include wins over Dan Ige and Hakeem Dawodu. He most recently competed in May when he defeated promotional newcomer and short-notice replacement Diego Lopes by unanimous decision.
No other fights have been announced for UFC 297 at this time.
Perhaps a third UFC fight booking will be the charm for Movsar Evloev and Bryce Mitchell.
Perhaps the third time will be the charm for [autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag] and [autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag].
Evloev and Mitchell were booked to fight on two occasions, but both fell through with each fighter withdrawing once. Their most recent booking at UFC 288 was scrapped when Mitchell was forced out due to a back injury and replaced by Diego Lopes on five days’ notice. Evloev remained unbeaten by defeating Lopes, but the Mexican fighter proved to be a more than worthy adversary.
Despite two bookings with Mitchell (15-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) falling through, Evloev (17-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) is still interested in making the fight happen. He issued “Thug Nasty” a challenge on Twitter.
So when are you gonna be ready to go @ThugnastyMMA ? I heard you said it won’t take long, otherwise just publicly admit you want nothing to do with me
— Movsar Evloev (@MovsarUFC) May 28, 2023
“So when are you gonna be ready to go @ThugnastyMMA? I heard you said it won’t take long, otherwise just publicly admit you want nothing to do with me.”
Mitchell responded with a video on Instagram, suggesting they throw down on the UFC Fight Night on Aug. 5 card in Nashville.
“Hey Movsar, I hear you still want to fight me,” Mitchell said. “That’s good because I’m looking for somebody to fight. How about Aug. 5 in Nashville? Until then, I’ve got bigger fish to fry than you buddy.”
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cs2HqG2AyQI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg==
Mitchell hasn’t competed since a lopsided submission loss to Ilia Topuria this past December at UFC 282, marking his first-career loss. Prior to that, Mitchell was 6-0 in the octagon – including a dominant win over Edson Barboza.
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