Legendary former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov wants to see his fellow countryman, top-five featherweight Movsar Evloev, as the next challenger for Ilia Topuria.
Evloev made his latest appearance on the preliminary card of Saturday's UFC 310 pay-per-view in Las Vegas, where his second outing of the year came against an ex-bantamweight titleholder in Aljamain Sterling.
After his decision victory over Arnold Allen this past January wasn't enough to impress the promotional higher-ups, the Russian had more work to do to place himself in a strong position heading into 2025.
And although "Funk Master" gave him a run for his money, Evloev ultimately did just that by earning the nod on all three scorecards following three rounds of entertaining grappling action at T-Mobile Arena.
Evloev had a 'what will be, will be' attitude when asked about whether he's done enough for a title shot by Joe Rogan post-fight. But there's little doubt about the merit of the #5-ranked contender's claim in the eyes of another undefeated Russian...
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"19:0 in MMA and 9:0 in UFC," Khabib wrote. "I think @MovsarUFC deserves title shot."
Evloev's performance on Saturday night maintained his undefeated record in the Octagon, but he is still searching for his first finish under the UFC banner.
Whether or not that fact will dent his push for the gold remains to be seen, but Evloev appears to have gained considerable support for his hopes to battle Topuria in 2025 after a hard-fought triumph over Sterling in "Sin City."
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