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Movsar Evloev has commented on UFC fighters being released despite them winning.
Farid Basharat wasn’t re-signed to the UFC after his contract expired despite him putting together a 7-0 run in the promotion.
While this is certainly not the first case of this happening, but it has opened up the debate surrounding the promotion favoring excitement above all else.
Basharat has gone on to criticize the UFC’s fan base as a whole, though this isn’t the way that one half of this weekend’s main event sees it.
Earlier this year, Movsar Evloev defeated Lerone Murphy to finally earn a featherweight title shot with his tenth consecutive win inside the Octagon.
The Russian has been seen by many as the top contender in the division for some time but the fact he’s yet to produce a finish since signing with the UFC hasn’t helped his case.
Some have even questioned how Evloev has remained on the roster while fighters with similar records have been let go by the promotion.
Ahead of his return in Abu Dhabi this Saturday, the title challenger spoke about this and why he believes that finishes aren’t the only criteria that you need to hit.
He believes that you can still be entertaining while going the distance and credits the fan base for understanding this, suggesting that this is why he’s still with the UFC.
“To show a good fight is also an important,” Evloev told MMA Fighting. “Even if you have no finishes, you can show a good fight, exciting fight. You can show the beauty of wrestling and there is not just fans of MMA who just wait for blood or something crazy. There are so many good fans who know MMA, and they understand, and maybe because of them I’m still in the UFC.”
Explain your answer below
Evloev is an obvious example to point out due to him winning ten UFC fights in a row without getting a finish.
However, while his wrestling is his best attribute, that hasn’t stopped him from being involved in some entertaining matchups.
His fights with the likes of Arnold Allen and Aljamain Sterling weren’t necessarily Fight of the Year contenders, but they were still engaging high-level matchups.
Still, it seems unlikely that Evloev will be able to shift the reputation of being a “boring fighter” until these bonus-worthy moments occur.