Movsar Evloev
Movsar Magomedovich Evloev is a Russian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2014, he has also competed at M-1 Global, where he is the former bantamweight champion. As of July 15, 2025, he is #1 in the UFC featherweight rankings.
Early life
Evloev, who has a degree in computer programming and law, belongs to the Ingush teip Youvloy. Before turning professional in mixed martial arts in 2014, Movsar earned the rank of a Master of Sports in Greco-Roman wrestling. He is the cousin of Olympic gold medalist, Musa Evloev.Mixed martial arts career
M-1 Global
Prior to competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Evloev spent all his time in M-1 Global.On April 22, 2017, Evloev faced Alexey Nevzorov for the M-1 Global Interim Bantamweight championship. He knocked out Nevzorov in the second round to claim the title.
Evloev then faced Pavel Vitruk for the undisputed title on July 22, 2017. He defeated Vitruk by unanimous decision to unify the championship.
Following his championship victory, Evloev's first title defense was held in February 2018, against Sergey Morozov. He defeated him with a rear-naked choke in the third round.
In his next title defense, he faced Rafael Dias on July 21, 2018. He knocked Dias out in the fifth round to retain his belt.
In April, he vacated the championship and signed with the UFC.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Evloev was scheduled to make his promotional debut against Muin Gafurov on April 20, 2019, at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Oleinik. However, Gafurov withdrew and was replaced by Seung Woo Choi. Evloev won the fight by unanimous decision.Evloev was then scheduled to face Mike Grundy on August 31, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 157. However, Grundy pulled out of the bout due to injury and was then set to be replaced by Zhenhong Lu. However, just hours before the fight, Lu pulled out after suffering a cut.
In his second UFC appearance, Evloev faced Enrique Barzola on October 26, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 162. He won the fight by unanimous decision.
Evloev was then slated to face Douglas Silva de Andrade on March 7, 2020, at UFC 248. However, Andrade pulled out of the fight and was set to be replaced by Jamall Emmers. However, Evloev pulled out of the contest for unknown reasons.
Evloev faced Mike Grundy on July 26, 2020, at UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till. He won the fight by unanimous decision.
Evloev was scheduled to face Nate Landwehr on December 5, 2020, at UFC on ESPN 19 However, on the day of the fight, the bout was cancelled after Evloev tested positive for COVID-19.
Evloev faced Nik Lentz, replacing Mike Grundy, at UFC 257 on January 24, 2021. He won the fight via split decision. 26 out of 26 media outlets scored the bout for Evloev.
Evloev faced Hakeem Dawodu on June 12, 2021, at UFC 263. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Evloev was expected to face Ilia Topuria on January 22, 2022, at UFC 270. However, Evloev withdrew from the bout after a positive COVID-19 test and was replaced by Charles Jourdain.
Evloev faced Dan Ige on June 4, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 207. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
As the first bout of his new multi-fight contract, Evloev was scheduled to face Bryce Mitchell on November 5, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 214. However, Evloev withdrew in mid October due to injury.
Evloev was scheduled to face Bryce Mitchell, replacing injured Jonathan Pearce, on May 6, 2023, at UFC 288. However, Mitchell withdrew due to an undisclosed injury. He was replaced by Diego Lopes. Evloev defeated Lopes via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.
Evloev faced Arnold Allen on January 20, 2024, at UFC 297. In a competitive bout, he won once again by unanimous decision.
Evloev was scheduled to face former UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling on October 5, 2024 at UFC 307. However, Sterling withdrew from the fight due to an injury sustained in sparring. The pairing was eventually rescheduled to compete against one another at UFC 310 on December 7, 2024. Evloev won the fight by unanimous decision.
Evloev was reportedly going to face Aaron Pico on May 17, 2025 at UFC Fight Night 256. However, on an interview, Pico revealed that although it was close to being signed, the bout did not come to fruition. The fight was later re-scheduled to take place on July 26, 2025 at UFC on ABC 9. In turn, under two weeks prior to this event, Evloev had to withdraw due to an injury.
Evloev is scheduled to face Lerone Murphy in the main event on March 21, 2026, at UFC Fight Night 270.
Championships and accomplishments
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- *Fight of the Night
- *Third most takedowns landed in UFC Featherweight division history
- *Fifth longest win streak in UFC Featherweight division history
- *Tied for third most decision wins in UFC Featherweight division history
- *First fighter to start UFC career with nine straight decision wins
- M-1 Global
- *M-1 Global interim Bantamweight Championship
- *M-1 Global Bantamweight Championship
- **Two successful title defenses