Evloev dares Tsarukyan to drop to featherweight ahead of UFC 333 title shot

Movsar Evloev has issued an open invitation to Arman Tsarukyan to drop down to featherweight, telling media ahead of UFC 333 that 145 pounds belongs to him — provided he first gets past Alexander Volkanovski in Saturday’s main event.

Evloev, who enters the fight with a perfect 20-0 professional record and 10 UFC wins, was asked at media day whether a cross-divisional clash with Tsarukyan — a longtime lightweight contender who has previously floated the idea of competing at 145 — would interest him.

“If Arman wants to come down to featherweight, like I said, it’s my territory,” Evloev said, via a Russian-to-English translation from FREAK.MMA. “Whether Arman comes down or someone moves up, I don’t know, it makes no difference who I fight. Make 145 and we’ll fight, if the UFC wants that fight, of course.”

Evloev was careful to frame the call-out within his broader philosophy on how his career has been managed. “In my whole career, I’ve considered zero potential fights, because it was never up to me,” he said. “I fought whoever they gave me, and this time nothing will change. They decide everything. I’m just a gladiator.”

Tsarukyan, meanwhile, is waiting on a potential lightweight title shot against champion Justin Gaethje, so any move to featherweight would represent a significant detour from his current trajectory.

Evloev’s path to a title fight has been built on victories over a string of ranked opponents, including Lerone Murphy, Aljamain Sterling, Arnold Allen, Diego Lopes, and Dan Ige. His win over Murphy — which pushed him to 20-0 — secured the championship opportunity he now faces.

Volkanovski, the man standing in his way, is one of the most decorated fighters in featherweight history. Across a 14-year career, the Australian is 18-1 at 145 pounds, with three wins over Max Holloway and one over Jose Aldo — fighters regularly cited alongside him in debates about the greatest featherweight of all time.

Should Evloev win, he would join Ilia Topuria as the only fighters to have defeated Volkanovski at featherweight. But Evloev is not getting ahead of himself on the legacy question.

“I think that me taking the belt now won’t make me the best featherweight, because it’ll be the beginning of me becoming one of the best featherweights,” he said. “And even two title defenses won’t be enough. It’ll also depend on who I defend against.”

“But first, I need to settle this question with the belt, and then think about how to become the best featherweight in history.”