Death Row MMA<\/a> podcast. \u201cI don\u2019t know when that\u2019s going to happen, but that\u2019s a hundred percent going to happen at some point.<\/p>\n\u201cI don\u2019t think Volk beats either of those two guys, to tell you the truth. I think Movsar will be too much with the wrestling in a different way. I know he did amazing against Islam [Makhachev] with the wrestling, Volk, so that\u2019s saying a lot, but I think Movsar could find a way to get to his legs and make it a dog fight. He has a different pace than Islam. He\u2019s not as technical, I think, as Islam, he\u2019s not as savvy as Islam, but he\u2019s got more of a motor than Islam. He\u2019ll put up more attempts and that could cost you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evloev\u2019s title charge has been held back by injuries (the 31-year-old failed to log an in-cage appearance in 2025) and a lack of splashy in-cage moments. All nine of Evloev\u2019s UFC wins have come by way of decision and despite some entertaining performances, he\u2019s yet to make a no-doubt case for himself in the eyes of the matchmakers.<\/p>\n
Murphy was in a similar situation until this past August, when he delivered a Knockout of the Year candidate in a win over former Bellator star Aaron Pico at UFC 319. However, Murphy was passed over for a title shot in favor of a Volkanovski-Lopes rematch (Lopes knocked out top contender Jean Silva in September to stay in the mix).<\/p>\n
That might have been a fortuitous outcome for Volkanovski.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Murphy vs. Volk, I also see Volk getting got,\u201d Masvidal said. \u201cI see Murphy right now getting him. Volk can\u2019t control this guy. I don\u2019t think he\u2019ll be able take him down and hold him down. I\u2019d be surprised if he was able to take him down, hold him down, I\u2019d be thoroughly surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd on the feet, this guy\u2019s way bigger, longer, crazy style of striking, explosive, and still very basic. He doesn\u2019t do dumb things and get himself hurt or put himself in harm\u2019s way. So I go with Murphy for the title against Volk, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Masvidal also sees considerable upside in Volkanovski facing off against the likes of Lopes, Evloev, and Murphy. Should the 37-year-old manage to add three more successful title defenses to his already shining list of accomplishments, Masvidal would consider him the GOAT at 145 pounds\u2014and possibly at any weight class.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Volk can pull this gauntlet off, greatest f*cking featherweight that ever lived, maybe fighter that ever lived as well,\u201d Masvidal said. \u201cIf he could beat those next two dudes right there, that\u2019s interdimensional shit. Another level of greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alexander Volkanovski\u2019s second reign as featherweight champion has no shortage of challengers and Jorge Masvidal doubts he can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,701,638,82,640,702],"class_list":["post-421366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-latest-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc","tag-ufc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}