Let’s take a look at what’s going on in the Featherweight Division:
Max Holloway is booked to headline #UFC308 against Ilia Topuria, so they’re off the table.
Brian Ortega is looking to make the move to Lightweight and is likely still recovering from his #UFC306 clash with Diego Lopes, who told MMA Fighting that he would only take a fight with Movsar if it guaranteed him a title shot and he had a full training camp. That’s understandable, especially given that he already stepped up to fight Evloev on short notice previously and fought less than two weeks ago.
Lopes isn’t the only Featherweight star that was looking for a full training camp. In an interview with The Schmo, Bryce Mitchell expressed his interest in a fight with Evloev but not on short notice. “You know what happened last time I took one on short notice. It was ugly.” Hard to blame Bryce, after his horrendous KO loss to Josh Emmett.
Dan Ige, too, may have been tired of short notice fights, after stepping up to take on Diego Lopes on a few hours’ notice. He’s booked for #UFC308 against Lerone Murphy, so we imagine that the UFC made a couple of calls to these prospects.
Alexander Volkanovski, Josh Emmett, and Jean Silva seem like they would have been the best options.
Volk’s coming off of a couple of knockout losses, so the opportunity to fight against a top ranked opponent not known for his knockout power would seem appealing.
Emmett’s a top ranked opponent and a serious KO threat, so if Movsar could get through him, a title shot would seem almost guaranteed. That’s a lot of weight for Emmett to cut on short notice, though.
While Jean Silva agreed to the fight on X, fighting a highly dangerous unranked opponent would be a huge risk for the undefeated Evloev.
What do you think happened behind the scenes that preceded Movsar’s withdrawal from UFC 307?
