Movsar Evloev promises 'championship-caliber fight' at UFC London: 'There's no higher level of competition'

Winning has long been the best cure for respect and validity in sports. Top UFC featherweight contender Movsar Evloev has exclusively resided in that circle of success. Still, he has yet to sniff a world championship at the MMA pinnacle.

Evloev's golden pursuit hasn't been due to a lack of effort. Undefeated in 19 professional fights dating back to 2014, the Russian mauler rides an impressive nine-fight stretch within the UFC ahead of his first main event opportunity at UFC London on Saturday. Standing in his way is the equally impressive talent, Lerone Murphy, who hasn't tasted defeat in his entire 18-fight career since 2016.

Pitting two undefeated entities against each other is always a recipe for excitement. In the case of this clear-cut 145-pound contender duel, Evloev firmly believes it's the best fight across the board — with or without a title on the line. "Whether we get the belt for this or not, obviously, we're not fighting for a championship.

But I think that the work that he's put in up until now, the experience that he's went through, the experience that I lived through as a fighter, I think this is a championship-caliber fight," Evloev told Uncrowned through an interpreter. "We're doing the five rounds; we're not getting the hardware for it, but there's no other way to look at it, as this is what the two champions fighting for the belt would look like. So, with everything that we have to put into this specific fight, I think this is straight up the highest level of the game.