Surging featherweight contender Kevin Vallejos desires Alexander Volkanovski to be profitable in his UFC title protection Saturday, when he battles undefeated Movsar Evloev in Abu Dhabi, because he desires to be the one to dethrone “The Great” in 2027.
Vallejos is scheduled to face former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling in the co-main occasion of UFC Qatar on Nov. 21, an alternative earned after successful 4 in a row in the promotion. Now, he hopes to see Volkanovski come out on high against Evloev to keep a potential matchup for the title alive.
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“I would like Volkanovski to win,” Vallejos instructed MMA Fighting. “I would like that because if I knock Sterling out, I would like to fight Volkanovski. I would like to take the title away from Volkanovski.”
Volkanovski enters UFC 333 coming off of back-to-back wins over Diego Lopes while Evloev, who beat Lopes back in 2023, earned a shot at UFC gold following 10 octagon victories, capped off by selections over Arnold Allen, Aljamain Sterling, and Lerone Murphy.
“Evloev also has everything he needs to win,” Vallejos said. “He is 20-0, he has a very good record, but beating a guy who dominated the entire division for a long time… I think [Volkanovski] has more weight behind him when it comes to winning the title.
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“[Evloev] will make issues tough for Volk, very tough, but I see Volk successful. He has fought larger guys, like Islam, and it took a lot to take him down. I think that if Evloev tries to take Volk down, Volk will know very properly how to defend himself or get back to his toes.”
Vallejos has only lost once in 19 professional MMA bouts, a three-round war with Jean Silva at Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023. Three years later, Silva is also hunting for a title shot after a 7-1 run in the UFC.
“It is a very tough division,” Vallejos said, “But I think that if I win and knock out a man like Sterling, who has, as you said, a lot of historical past and is a former champion, I believe that a sturdy win over him would give me a title alternative. Or at least put me in the dialog as the next contender.”
Silva’s most recent showing was a third-round submission victory over Jose Miguel Delgado, who stepped in on short notice as a replacement for Yair Rodriguez. Despite his past setback against the Brazilian, Vallejos believes that dominating Sterling could still be enough to surpass Silva even without a finish.
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“If I do not knock him out and win by resolution,” Vallejos said, “But show my degree of takedown protection and also my capacity to go three rounds with a man who has a lot of expertise combating five-round fights and knows how to handle a combat, I think I would also show that I have the obligatory abilities for that alternative.”
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