There was an expectation that Movsar Evloev would try to wrestle his British counterpart, Lerone Murphy, on Saturday in London. That’s what Evloev usually does. Dump a man to the canvas and show him the Russian way.
Yet in the first round Evloev opted to stand and trade with Murphy, which bewildered the commentators while vexing all those at home. Even Murphy kept flashing a Masvidalian jerking knee motion on suspected level changes to warn against any such thoughts. Lerone spent the first round in that sort of anticipation, just as everyone else who was watching.
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And then the second, too. Then most of the third.
By the time Evloev landed his first takedown at UFC London, we were almost to the championship rounds. Because he’d preferred to play Murphy’s game rather than his own, the optics were that Murphy was the one dictating terms, and there was a broad assumption that Evloev had dug a 3-0 hole on the scorecards — or in the very least, 2-1. Of course, the astonishing reveal was that he hadn’t. At least not to the judges sitting cageside. In fact, heading into the fourth round, two of those gavels officially had Evloev ahead.
When Evloev was deducted a point in the fourth round for repeated groin shots, the general misdirection of what we were watching went further. Even though Evloev won the round, it was nothing more than a furious negation. And the fifth round, in the eyes of many, was academic. Evloev won the round easily, using the dogged wrestling that was slow to arrive at The O2 Arena, but it was too little too late.
Murphy had won. Or had he? It was a weird fight. The fight game’s version of a card trick that makes you think back to what you just saw. Did we bamboozle ourselves by fixating on what we weren’t seeing rather than what we were?
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It seemed to me that Evloev went to England — into hostile territory, as the broadcast called it — to make sure the UFC would give him a title shot. He played with fire to make a point that he could fight in a pleasing way to the UFC’s eye, because he didn’t want to be skipped over due to his style. In other words, he wanted to be more entertaining, which was understandable. On the UFC’s website beforehand, in a feature meant to hype up the featherweight title eliminator, they referred to him as a “decision machine.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Two years ago in Toronto, Dana White condemned Evloev’s fight with Arnold Allen, saying “the fight sucked the wind right out of the arena tonight,” even though it was one of Movsar’s best, most creative showings. That fight could’ve easily earned him a title shot, but the UFC made him fight Aljamain Sterling next, a state-issued penitence. He beat Sterling, too, with exceedingly low amounts of wow factor — at least to the UFC’s way of thinking. That meant he’d have to keep swimming while Diego Lopes, the man Evloev beat before the Allen encounter, got a second crack at the 145-pound title.
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That also meant he’d have to go through Murphy, who was also 9-0 in the UFC, in a five-round fight in London. In talking to Evloev over the past couple of years, he hasn’t made it any secret that he’s felt looked over in the featherweight title picture. Those slights have resulted in the sizable chip he carries on his shoulder. His main contention has been that, yes, he needed all 27 allotted rounds to get his nine UFC wins, but they were still nine wins.
His contender status should be undeniable. If the aesthetics were holding him back, combined with a perceived lack of killer instinct, he would present another look.
Movsar Evloev reacts to a point deduction during his featherweight bout against Lerone Murphy in London.
(Bradley Collyer – PA Images via Getty Images)
Maybe part of the early restraint to break out the singlet Saturday was to conserve energy in his first five-round UFC fight, but the calculated risk seemed to be to meet Murphy on his own terms — to prove a point, maybe, or to change some perceptions — before defaulting to wrestling late.
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It was a strategy that could’ve easily backfired, especially against a thumper like Murphy who starched Aaron Pico his last time out. Yet Evloev managed to clear his hurdle. Did he win four of five rounds, as two judges saw it? For the record, I had it a 47-47 draw, giving Evloev the third, but each of the first three rounds were close. It was merely his reluctance to do the thing he’s been condemned for that made it close at all. For as good as Murphy was at getting back to his feet and breaking Evloev’s death grips, Evloev could’ve made his night easier by doing what he does best from the beginning.
Instead, he tailored to taste, and — as sleight-of-handish as it might’ve seemed — he more than held his own. It’s a double-edged sword for Russia’s un-emoting featherweight burden. You could hear his frustration when he spoke to Michael Bisping after.
“UFC, there is no more excuses to let me fight for the title,” he said. “I have nothing to say.”
Ever the picture of class, Murphy himself said in his post-fight interview that the UFC needed to give Evloev his shot. And the featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who labeled it an “interesting fight,” seemed eager to fight Evloev next, too.
“I don’t think we all expected Movsar to just want to stand with Lerone,” the champ told the Paramount+ desk. “Whether that was something he felt he had to do just so he could guarantee himself a title shot, I’m not too sure. But you could see he was a lot stronger when he wanted to take it down, and then was able to outdo him on the feet. For me, it’s quite impressive, to be honest. He’s 20-0 now, and I guess he’s next.”
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Impressive enough to get a title shot?
On that front, White was noncommittal when asked if Evloev was next.
“Possibly yeah,” he said. “Again, I’m not even thinking about that. The fight just ended. But yeah, obviously he’s in a great position.”
Evloev lives in a great position. Great position doesn’t always translate to title shot, especially with Jean Silva out there in London barking at the cameras.
In the end, Evloev landed nine total takedowns, and accumulated nearly four minutes of control time. He out-struck Murphy and left him in a poor state by the end of the night. Murphy had trouble just getting back to his stool. He did some damage to the other big-time contender in his division, and the judges sitting in earshot of the blows thought he did enough.
Which then raises the bigger question — was it enough?
