Movsar Evloev improved his undefeated record to 13-0 over the weekend at UFC Fight Island 3. That came via a unanimous decision win over England’s Mike Grundy.
It wasn’t how he expected to return to the octagon, however.
The Russian featherweight had been expected to compete at UFC 248 back in March. Lined up with Douglas Andrade and later Jamall Emmers, Evloev himself was forced to pull out of the event due to a motorcycle accident.
“It was definitely a really bad accident. I was struck by a car,” he said of what happened that fateful day. “It was one week before my fight. But thanks to the almighty, that I was able to recover, and return, and [be] successful.”
Adding a few more details, the featherweight explained that “there were no broken bones, it was just gnarly, the road rash. And because of that I was able to recover quickly and get back into the cage.”
But thanks to that hiccup and a few other missed bouts, the undefeated fighter’s rise hasn’t been as quick as hoped, he observed.
“Relatively the rise has been slow because of the fact that I had to, you know, miss a couple of fights because of certain things and opponents that had to pull out, and my unfortunate accident,” said Evloev. “But I am always ready and if the UFC trusts me and gives me a top 15 opponent, I will prove to them and prove to everybody that I am definitely in that category.”
Evloev also addressed the depth of the UFC featherweight division after his win over Grundy.
“I am very grateful that my division has so many great names, so many great athletes,” he stated. “And I would love the opportunity face one of them in the top 15 to prove that I am in contention and I deserve to be absolutely at the very top of this division.”
