Sean Shelby's Shoes: What's next for Movsar Evloev after UFC London win?
· Yahoo Sports
Movsar Evloev is a mystery who has still not been solved after his UFC Fight Night 270 main event win over Lerone Murphy.
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It got dicey for Evloev (20-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) on Saturday at The O2 in London. Many thought he dropped two or even three rounds early to Murphy (17-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC), and to make matters worse, he was deducted a point for a groin strike in the fourth round.
One judge scored the fight a draw, but fortunately for Evloev, the other two judges valued his work more than Murphy – which could be debated – and he emerged with his perfect record intact by majority decision.
It's hard not to be blown away by Evloev's record on paper. Making it to 20-0 with half the fights happening in the UFC is no easy feat, but the elephant in the room for the Russian is that he has yet to finish a fight inside the octagon. In fact, of the small handful of fighters who have made it to 10-0 in the UFC, all of them have managed to finish at least one fight along the way.
That's not the type of history Evloev wants to hang his hat on, and though he made the baffling decision to strike with Murphy when he didn't need to in order to impress the UFC brass, an argument can be made he still left the door open to be passed over.
Evloev should be undeniable given his resume. He has the support of 145-pound champion Alexander Volkanovski, but in the modern UFC, his title shot doesn't feel like a lock.
Will he get passed over for the opportunity again in favor of Jean Silva, who seems confident that's exactly what's going to happen? It wouldn't be right, but it also wouldn't be shocking.
Only time will fell, but UFC CEO Dana White touted Evloev as being in "a great position" at the post-fight press conference, so perhaps his chance at gold is finally on the horizon.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC London matchmaker: Who's next for Movsar Evloev after win?