Movsar Evloev added a signature win to his perfect record on Saturday when he defeated Dan Ige in the UFC Fight Night 207 co-main event.
Evloev (16-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) used a well-rounded attack centered largely around striking to bust up Ige’s (15-6 MMA, 7-5 UFC) face over the course of three rounds in the featherweight bout at the UFC Apex. As a result, he left with a unanimous decision win by scores of 30-26, 30-27, 30-27.
Ige opened the fight with punching pressure, but it only took a few minutes for Evloev to get respect as he landed some good punches and a flying knee that staggered his opponent. Evloev controlled Ige in the latter half of the round with waist-lock takedowns, but Ige avoided being held down for too long or caught in any submission positions.
Evloev continued his momentum in the second round. He continued to attack the head and body of Ige with his punches and knees. He added in a late takedown and ground-and-pound, establishing a clear lead on the scorecards going into the final frame.
After Ige’s cornerman Eric Nicksick of Xtreme Couture pleaded with his fighter to empty the gas tank in the final round, Evloev came out and got a takedown within the first 25 seconds of the frame. Ige was desperate to get up or scramble free, but Evloev stuck to him like glue and burned minutes off the clock with riding time. Ige has no answers down the stretch, and Evloev cruised to a clear win.
“Feeling great – thank you for everybody,” Evloev said in his post-fight interview with Paul Felder. “Thank you much and all my team and all my corners. I think me with my opponent deserve Fight of the Night, and next one I need a big name for a title shot. I am the next champion.”
Additionally, Evloev said he would be happy to fight “bullsh*t” guy Arnold Allen next.
With four straight UFC wins at 145 pounds, Evloev has the fourth-longest active streak in the division behind Allen (nine), Alexander Volkanovski (nine) and Bryce Mitchell (six).
Ige, meanwhile, has now dropped three consecutive fights and four of his past five since going on a seven-fight winning streak in the division.
Up-to-the-minute results of UFC Fight Night 207 include:
- Movsar Evloev def. Dan Ige via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
- Lucas Almeida def. Michael Trizano via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 0:55
- Karine Silva def. Poliana Botelho via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 4:55
- Ode Osbourne def. Zarrukh Adashev via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:01
- Alonzo Menifield def. Askar Mozharov via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 4:40
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Felice Herrig via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:01
- Joe Solecki def. Alex Da Silva via majority decision (28-28, 28-27, 29-27)
- Damon Jackson def. Dan Argueta via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Benoit Saint-Denis def. Niklas Stolze via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:32
- Tony Gravely def. Johnny Munoz Jr. via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:08
- Jeff Molina def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
- Rinat Fakhretdinov def. Andreas Michailidis via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
- Erin Blanchfield def. JJ Aldrich via submission (standing guillotine choke) – Round 2, 2:38
