{"id":7275,"date":"2026-10-24T11:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T10:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/?p=7275"},"modified":"2026-10-24T14:51:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T13:51:00","slug":"volkanovski-vs-evloev-why-max-holloway-isnt-worried-about-the-russians-wrestling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/volkanovski-vs-evloev-why-max-holloway-isnt-worried-about-the-russians-wrestling\/","title":{"rendered":"Volkanovski vs. Evloev: Why Max Holloway Isn&#8217;t Worried About the Russian&#8217;s Wrestling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">With UFC 333&#8217;s featherweight title fight approaching, Max Holloway has backed former rival Alexander Volkanovski to retain his championship by decision against Movsar Evloev. His prediction draws on firsthand experience against the Australian champion and a different reading of a matchup in which wrestling is expected to play a central role.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Max Holloway is unwilling to reduce the upcoming fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Movsar Evloev to the Russian contender&#8217;s ability to impose his wrestling. The former featherweight champion, who faced the Australian three times without securing a victory, believes much of the discussion surrounding Evloev&#8217;s threat overlooks an important part of Volkanovski&#8217;s fighting history, particularly his experience against Islam Makhachev.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In a prediction published on his YouTube channel on Friday, October 23, Holloway picked Volkanovski to win by decision, arguing that the champion&#8217;s intelligence inside the Octagon and ability to deal with wrestlers give him an advantage that remains underappreciated.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Holloway pointed specifically to Volkanovski&#8217;s two encounters with Makhachev. In his view, the attention surrounding the knockout defeat in their second meeting has overshadowed what the Australian accomplished in the first, when he moved up from featherweight to challenge one of the lightweight division&#8217;s most accomplished wrestlers and remained competitive throughout five rounds.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_60339\"  width=\"696\" height=\"391\"  data-origwidth=\"696\" data-origheight=\"391\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FeXX1g-D3mY?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;I know everyone talks about Movsar&#8217;s wrestling, but Volkanovski fought Islam twice. It&#8217;s like people only remember the second fight, as if the first one never happened,&#8221; Holloway said, according to comments reported by MMA Junkie.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He went on to emphasize his former opponent&#8217;s tactical intelligence before making his prediction: &#8220;I&#8217;m picking Volkanovski by decision. I think the whole world is going to see it. People need to show Volkanovski a little more respect.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_87188\"  width=\"696\" height=\"391\"  data-origwidth=\"696\" data-origheight=\"391\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FeXX1g-D3mY?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">That assessment carries particular weight given the history between the two fighters. Volkanovski dethroned Holloway in 2019 before defeating him twice more, becoming one of the opponents the former champion knows most intimately. Across those encounters, Holloway experienced the Australian&#8217;s ability to make adjustments during a fight, manage distance and change his rhythm according to the opponent in front of him.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Yet Volkanovski&#8217;s experience against Makhachev does not mean Evloev represents a challenge he has already solved. More than three years have passed since the first meeting with the former lightweight champion. Volkanovski now approaches this title defense at 38, following a period that included knockout losses to Makhachev and Ilia Topuria before he returned to the top of the featherweight division.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Australian reclaimed the vacant championship by defeating Diego Lopes in April 2025 and successfully defended it against the same opponent in January 2026. Those performances demonstrated his continued ability to manage extended fights, although neither provided an identical test to the one awaiting him against Evloev.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The 32-year-old Russian arrives in Abu Dhabi with an unbeaten professional record of 20 victories, including ten UFC wins, all secured by decision. His recent results reflect a gradual progression against increasingly demanding opposition. After defeating Arnold Allen and Aljamain Sterling, he overcame Lerone Murphy by majority decision in March.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Against Murphy, Evloev competed in his first scheduled five-round UFC fight. He did not significantly increase his reliance on wrestling until the fourth round, having allowed his opponent to establish a rhythm during portions of the contest. The performance demonstrated improvements in the Russian&#8217;s striking, while also leaving questions about how effectively he distributes his energy across 25 minutes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For Volkanovski, managing those periods could prove decisive. Successfully defending takedowns may not be enough if he spends extended stretches against the fence or expends substantial energy escaping his opponent&#8217;s control. Evloev, meanwhile, must turn his persistent pressure into a tangible advantage without allowing the champion to recover the distance he needs to use his movement and striking.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Holloway&#8217;s confidence broadly aligns with Volkanovski&#8217;s own assessment, although the two differ on how they expect the fight to end.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In comments reported by Sherdog from an interview with MMA Junkie, the Australian dismissed the suggestion that his opponent could outwrestle him for five rounds. He also expressed confidence in his ability to finish the contest before it reaches the judges&#8217; scorecards.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Volkanovski went further, suggesting he could deliver a performance that leaves observers questioning whether they have just witnessed the best version of him yet.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">That confidence does not diminish the difficulty of the assignment. Evloev remains undefeated and has repeatedly imposed his approach against opponents with considerable wrestling and grappling experience. His lack of a finish inside the UFC should not be mistaken for a limited threat, either. The Russian has built his career around winning rounds and controlling the pace of his opponents.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Scheduled for Saturday, October 24, at Abu Dhabi&#8217;s Etihad Arena, the UFC 333 main event brings together two contrasting paths to a championship fight: Volkanovski&#8217;s return to the top after losing his title, and Evloev&#8217;s arrival at his first UFC title opportunity without a professional defeat.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Holloway, who understands better than most how difficult it is to take rounds away from the Australian, has already made his choice. He does not dispute the Russian contender&#8217;s wrestling credentials. Rather, he believes Volkanovski possesses the tools required to prevent Evloev from turning that strength into sustained control.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Much will depend on whether the champion can reproduce the defensive qualities Holloway remembers from his first encounter with Makhachev, more than three years after that night, against an opponent bringing a different game plan into the Octagon and an unbeaten record that has yet to be tested by defeat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With UFC 333&#8217;s featherweight title fight approaching, Max Holloway has backed former rival Alexander Volkanovski to retain his championship by decision against Movsar Evloev. His prediction draws on firsthand experience against the Australian champion and a different reading of a matchup in which wrestling is expected to play a central role. Max Holloway is unwilling [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,86,21,91],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"category-mma-video","9":"category-ufc-news","10":"category-ufc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7275"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7275"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7277,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7275\/revisions\/7277"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}