"Islam is just on another level" - Movsar Evloev comes clear on Ilia Topuria vs Islam Makhachev matchup as UFC 317 talks swirl

No. 4-ranked UFC featherweight Movsar Evloev got candid on what he thought of former UFC featherweight champ Ilia Topuria's campaign to win the lightweight throne. After his title defense against Max Holloway back in October 2024, 'El Matador' willingly relinquished his 145-pound title with the hopes of moving up to 155 pounds and taking the title from dominant champ Islam Makhachev.

In an interview with @sport24_u, a Russian news outlet on X, Evloev was asked if he thinks less of Topuria if he loses his title bid against Makhachev. Evloev said (translated):

"Well, if he [Topuria] loses to Islam [Makhachev], it won't take anything away from him. Because Islam is just on another level. Islam is bigger. Islam is the champion at a higher weight class. And Islam is also the P4P number one. So there's no shame in losing to Islam. It would be very silly to write him [Topuria] off just because he lost to Islam."

When the reporter asked Movsar Evloev if something personal was going on between him and Topuria, with both having a verbal altercation in the past, the Russian fighter said:

"He said some things he should not have said. But I think he said that not because he's got any animosity towards me or to prove something. I think that's just because he's not really smart."

Listen to Movsar Evloev here:

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Ilia Topuria on Movsar Evloev: "He needs to finish someone"

Last year, fresh from violently ripping the UFC featherweight title from the hands of Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298, Ilia Topuria was asked about the possible challengers to his new throne. He was inevitably asked about Movsar Evloev, who, at the time, was on a hot eight-fight winning streak in the promotion.

Topuria said:

"Look, Movsar [Evloev] is a good fight for me. I would love to fight him. But the guy has eight fights in the UFC, eight decisions, zero submissions, zero knockouts. From eight decisions, four split decisions. Man, come on. He needs to finish someone."

He even jokingly said:

"They need to find someone for him in his hometown. I don't know, maybe he can fight with his dad or something like that and finish him. I don't know, but he needs to finish someone."

While Topuria sees Evloev's undefeated record to be impressive, he finds it rather inferior for the lack of finishes. This not surprising coming from the Georgian-born Spaniard, who has 14 of his 16 wins by way of either submission or knockout.

Listen to Topuria here: