Movsar Evloev Alexander Volkanovski pushed him to fight, but teased him in matches other than the title.

It appears that Movsar Evloev needs at least one win before winning a title shot.

The undefeated Russian who recently dispatched Aljamain Sterling at UFC 310 this December took him to social media on Thursday to thank feathered qualifying champion Alexander Volkanovski for pushing him to fight him even if the matchup wasn’t really happening. Volkanovski said facing Evloev after regaining his 145 pound belt was good for his “legacy”, but it appears that the UFC had other ideas.

“Thank you, Alexander Volkanovsky, for trying to fight me. “I’ll fight in July, you’ll fight in September. Hopefully we’ll win both and see you in December.”

Evloev has consistently called for the title shots for the past year, especially after Diego Lopez was given the opportunity to crown a new featherweight champion following Ilia Topria’s Exodus from the division.

Evloev beat Lopez in a nighttime performance battle in 2023, and he has since won two more wins to move his overall record to 19-0

Still, he has not acquired the next crack at the champion to reveal plans to compete for the upcoming UFC return to Abu Dhabi, scheduled for July 26th at Etihad Arina.

“If you’re a UFC fighter and you believe you’re the best in the world, you can fight every fight they throw at you. “See you in July.

The UFC has not yet officially announced the Evloev fight, but sources said Thursday that MMA fights will be his target for return.

Evloev was linked to a potential battle with former Bellator fighter Aaron Pico, who previously signed as a free agent with the UFC, but there is no word if it is a reserved matchup.

For now, judging from Evloev’s posts on social media, he has resigned to the fact that he needs to win at least one time before he can win a title shot.