Glendale, AZ — Movsar Evloev defeated his first top 15 opponent at UFC 263 and wants another step up, this time a top 10 opponent.
After a very intense fight week and even an intenser face-off, Russia’s Evloev dominated Canada’s Hakeem Dawodu to win a clear-cut unanimous decision.
During the week, the storyline going into the fight was about who had better striking. Both Evloev and Dawodu stated they had the advantage. However, in the fight, Evloev used his far more superior wrestling to defeat his opponent.
During his post-fight interview, Evloev was asked about his striking and the comments he made.
“I’m still better [at striking] but my wrestling is also good. You know, just today I used my wrestling. My striking is good, I’m preparing a lot— boxing, everything. But, you know, today I felt like wrestling is better and so I used my wrestling,” Evloev said.
The former M-1 champ went on to say he worked a lot on his wrestling, and credited his coach as playing a big part in it. As for who is next for him, Evloev gave Cageside Press a few names.
“Anyone who don’t have a fight, I’m ready to fight with everyone… Calvin Kattar is a good name, Arnold Allen, Josh Emmett. It doesn’t matter who. Tell me when, where. I’m ready. I don’t have any injuries. Tomorrow I’m ready. Today I’m tired, tomorrow I’m ready,” Evloev said with a smile.
The Russian did have one person he won’t fight, teammate Edson Barboza. “No Edson Barboza, he’s my teammate, of course.”
Like a few other fighters on the card, this was Evloev’s first fight in America. “I was a little nervous about this,” he admitted, going on to mention that he had three other fights that were supposed to be in America, but all ended up canceled. Reasons for those cancellations included a car accident and a false positive COVID-19 test.
“I got my first win in the USA, now I’m ready for everything,” Evloev later exclaimed.
Watch the full UFC 263 post-fight press conference with Movsar Evloev above.
