Legendary UFC featherweight Jose Aldo says that, if it were up to him, the UFC should cut “boring” Movsar Evloev from its fighter roster.
Evloev, who is undefeated at 20-0 in his MMA career, is a perfect 10-0 in the UFC, but all of his wins have come by decision, which has likely been the reason why it took so long for him to get a title shot at 145 lbs.
According to Aldo, the consensus featherweight GOAT, the company should cut Evloev if he loses this Saturday at UFC 333 against UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Jose Aldo On Why The UFC Should Cut Movsar Evloev
Speaking to MMAFighting.com’s Guilherme Cruz, Aldo explained why he would cut Evloev if he were the UFC brass.
“The UFC isn’t just an organization that has to follow a ranking system. It’s a business, it’s entertainment. It’s not a matter of, ‘I’m number one, so I have to fight for the title.’ No. Evloev is ranked No. 1 in the division, if I’m not mistaken, and if I were the president, I’d never put him in there. He could beat everybody. I’d wait for him to lose for the first time and then cut him because he’s a guy who doesn’t sell, a guy who puts on boring fights, a guy who doesn’t draw attention, who just stays inactive. So why would I give him that opportunity? I want to sell out my arena. I want my event to grow. There’s a lot involved,” Aldo said.
Will the UFC Keep or Cut Movsar Evloev?
Although Aldo’s argument for cutting Evloev is that he’s not an exciting fighter, the fact remains that he is a winner, and his undefeated MMA record proves that.
Having said that, the UFC has let go of two other decision machines over the last month, as the promotion did not re-sign middleweight Michael Page (5-1 in UFC) or bantamweight Farid Basharat (7-0 in UFC) to new contracts despite their pristine records, as the promotion is going in a direction of entertainment first in the UFC of Paramount+ era, which seems to have matchmaking geared towards finishes.
If the UFC is truly about having the best MMA fighters in the world on its roster, then fighters like Page and Basharat should still be there, because they are winners who know how to get their hands raised. But clearly, there is more to it than that, as the promotion did not re-sign either of those men, and now Evloev has to be thinking about what’s next for him as well.
Of course, this is nothing new, as the UFC has cut decision-heavy fighters going back to Jon Fitch in 2013. Despite Fitch being one of the best welterweights in the world at the time, he was not finishing many of his fights, and the UFC cut him due to his grappling-heavy style, which resulted in decisions.
For Evloev, finishing Volkanovski would go a long way towards proving the doubters wrong and showing the UFC brass that he is, in fact, not a boring fighter, despite what Aldo and others think.
Jose Aldo Says UFC Should Cut ‘Boring’ Movsar Evloev