Is Movsar Evloev vs Brian Ortega the fight to make at FW?

[Shay Brennan]

Ortega is still ranked 3rd and is has rebounded with a win over Yair.
Movsar is ranked 5th and has never lost.

There is no way that Ortega deserves a title fight with Topuria more than Holloway and Volk. Also, a guy who got dropped by a punch from Yair has no business being in there with a force like Topuria.
So yeah, even if the FW champ changes in the next few fight, that doesn't open up any oppurtunities for Ortega, not when you were dominated by both Volk and Max and are just on a 1 fight win streak.

All in all, Ortega needs a big win and what better oppurtunity than to fight undefeated Evloev. In this fight Ortega doesn't have to worry about getting battered by strikes or worry about how to get the fight to the ground. Movsar will do that for him.

I'm very intrigued by how the grappling exchanges play out in this fight, especially since Diego Lopes had Evloev in some deep submission attempts. Ortega is by far the best BJJ Wizard currently at FW.

I'll be roting for Evloev, but man, Ortega is very dangerous, so he better play it safe.

Who will you be rooting for and haow do you see this one play out, if it happens?

 

[OldBoy91]

I think so.

I think the next 2 FW title fights are going to be some variation of Topuria/Volk/Max.

Evloev has earned a #1 contender fight in the meantime, and Ortega makes the most sense.

Sterling also has a shout just because he's a former BW champ and had a legendary 9 fight winning run before the O'Malley loss.

So any of those 3 mixing it up makes sense.

 

[Koala]

Evloev could be a good come back for Volkanovski
He doesn't KO people but he is still elite

 

[Shay Brennan]

Evloev could be a good come back for Volkanovski
He doesn't KO people but he is still elite

There is no coming back for Volk unfortunately, not after those 2 brutal KOes.
He's 36 and should just retire, has nothing left to prove.

 

[blaseblase]

Nah, Ortega has already hit his yearly quota. Expect him back mid 2025. Probably a title shot.

 

[Islam Imamate]

I think so.

I think the next 2 FW title fights are going to be some variation of Topuria/Volk/Max.

Evloev has earned a #1 contender fight in the meantime, and Ortega makes the most sense.

Sterling also has a shout just because he's a former BW champ and had a legendary 9 fight winning run before the O'Malley loss.

So any of those 3 mixing it up makes sense.

I like Sterling and want to see him succeed but he needs a more dynamic performance to get him into the title picture than what we saw against Kattar. Don't get me wrong, he looked good and beat a ranked opponent. But I get the sense he's not one of Dana's favorites and with the stiff competition at 145 you need to put on performances that become the talk of the town to get noticed.

 

[Portland8242]

Fuck Ortega and please exclude him from any title eliminator, sick of this inactive diva.

Aljo vs Movsar is the fight to make for a title eliminator

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

Well, Evloev has earned an eliminator and Ortega shouldn't be doing jack shit near a title shot for another 4 years (or 2 fights, by T City speak).


Edit* looks like Sterling wants a fight with Ortega, and Ortega gave the most fucking Ortega answer ever.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Lopes vs Ortega would be dope but he called for a Mosvar rematch, which I’m not interested in at this time

 

[DatSamboKid]

I find matchmaking in the FW division pretty challenging. Excluding Topuria, Volk, and Holloway, many fighters don’t have upcoming fights scheduled, and it’s a tough division to sort out. Looking at the top 15 ranked fighters, Ortega, Rodriguez, Evloev, Emmett, Sterling, Kattar, Mitchell, Ige, Lopes, and Yusuff are all currently without fights, most having fought recently.

Personally, I'd like to see Mostar Evloev vs Brian Ortega, Aljo Sterling vs Yair Rodriguez, Josh Emmett vs winner of Allen/Giga, Bryce Mitchell vs Diego Lopes and Calvin Kattar vs Dan Ige.

 

[fortheo]

I like Sterling and want to see him succeed but he needs a more dynamic performance to get him into the title picture than what we saw against Kattar. Don't get me wrong, he looked good and beat a ranked opponent. But I get the sense he's not one of Dana's favorites and with the stiff competition at 145 you need to put on performances that become the talk of the town to get noticed.

Pereira, a less decorated champ at the time with less defenses, got kncoked out cold, moved up a division and barely won a lukewarm controversial decision, and walked right into a title shot.

I think it is fair to at least give aljo a number one contender fight next.

I find matchmaking in the FW division pretty challenging. Excluding Topuria, Volk, and Holloway, many fighters don’t have upcoming fights scheduled, and it’s a tough division to sort out. Looking at the top 15 ranked fighters, Ortega, Rodriguez, Evloev, Emmett, Sterling, Kattar, Mitchell, Ige, Lopes, and Yusuff are all currently without fights, most having fought recently.

Personally, I'd like to see Mostar Evloev vs Brian Ortega, Aljo Sterling vs Yair Rodriguez, Josh Emmett vs winner of Allen/Giga, Bryce Mitchell vs Diego Lopes and Calvin Kattar vs Dan Ige.

No need to see Kattar vs. ige again in my opinion, but those aren't bad fights.

There is no coming back for Volk unfortunately, not after those 2 brutal KOes.
He's 36 and should just retire, has nothing left to prove.

If he is returning though, Evloev or Sterling are ideal matches for him because they've never so much as rocked someone with punches as far as I know.

 

[Islam Imamate]

Pereira, a less decorated champ at the time with less defenses, got kncoked out cold, moved up a division and barely won a lukewarm controversial decision, and walked right into a title shot.

I think it is fair to at least give aljo a number one contender fight next.

Pereira seems more favored by the UFC because of his fan friendly style and he competes in divisions that are far less deep so it makes more sense to throw someone like him into title fights off the bat.

With FW there are a lot of guys who are in the title picture or just outside it, Evloev, Holloway, possibly Volk, Ortega. Sterling needs to get a dramatic to set up a fight with someone on the cusp of a title shot like Holloway or Evloev.

Luke Thomas once said that MMA 170 and under is a different sport from MMA 185 and over and these kinds of situations demonstrate that. The depth at 145 is incomparable to the wasteland that is LHW.

 

[NicholasJBasile]

Ortega is still ranked 3rd and is has rebounded with a win over Yair.
Movsar is ranked 5th and has never lost.

There is no way that Ortega deserves a title fight with Topuria more than Holloway and Volk. Also, a guy who got dropped by a punch from Yair has no business being in there with a force like Topuria.
So yeah, even if the FW champ changes in the next few fight, that doesn't open up any oppurtunities for Ortega, not when you were dominated by both Volk and Max and are just on a 1 fight win streak.

All in all, Ortega needs a big win and what better oppurtunity than to fight undefeated Evloev. In this fight Ortega doesn't have to worry about getting battered by strikes or worry about how to get the fight to the ground. Movsar will do that for him.

I'm very intrigued by how the grappling exchanges play out in this fight, especially since Diego Lopes had Evloev in some deep submission attempts. Ortega is by far the best BJJ Wizard currently at FW.

I'll be roting for Evloev, but man, Ortega is very dangerous, so he better play it safe.

Who will you be rooting for and haow do you see this one play out, if it happens?

I'd like this fight or possibly Evloev VS Sterling. I've never been bored by an Evloev fight -- I love his game.

 

[fortheo]

Pereira seems more favored by the UFC because of his fan friendly style and he competes in divisions that are far less deep so it makes more sense to throw someone like him into title fights off the bat.

With FW there are a lot of guys who are in the title picture or just outside it, Evloev, Holloway, possibly Volk, Ortega. Sterling needs to get a dramatic to set up a fight with someone on the cusp of a title shot like Holloway or Evloev.

Luke Thomas once said that MMA 170 and under is a different sport from MMA 185 and over and these kinds of situations demonstrate that. The depth at 145 is incomparable to the wasteland that is LHW.

Pereira's win over Jan wasn't exactly fan friendly, but I get your point about the divisions being different. That;s why I understand Aljo needing two wins in his new division instead of just one like what pereira did -- but you seem to be suggesting that Aljo needs 3 wins, which would be absolutely crazy to me. we'll see how it all plays out though

 

[The Siege]

What I hope to see:

Ilia (C) vs Max (#2) for the belt

Movsar (#5) vs Volk (#1) for #1 contender and next TS

Sterling (#8) vs Ortega (#3) due to the amazing grappling we will get

Lopes (#14) vs Kattar (#9) or Emmet (#7) to get this kid Lopes into the top 10

 

[OldBoy91]

Well, Evloev has earned an eliminator and Ortega shouldn't be doing jack shit near a title shot for another 4 years (or 2 fights, by T City speak).


Edit* looks like Sterling wants a fight with Ortega, and Ortega gave the most fucking Ortega answer ever.

The UFC love Ortega though. They feature him on the YT channel all the time. Probably see him as the next Roger Huerta, except he can actually back it up in the cage. Super good looking guy who is marketable.

Whether we like it or not, he's going to be one of those "one win away from a title shot" type fighters for the rest of his run.

 

[danielzmcwire]

Yeah. Very interesting match up style wise.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Max vs Ilia
Ortega vs Evloev
AljI vs Volk
Yair vs Allen
Lopes vs Emmett

Also, pray to God the UFC starts signing better 145ers, division is thinner than Paulo Costas hair.

 

[Luckyme]

Rankings wise, this is the fight to make.

But stylistically it's horrible because Ortega has no wrestling and Movsar can grind him to a decision.

I'd rather see Movsar rematch Arnold Allen or fight Volk assuming the UFC books Max vs. Topuria.

 

[The Siege]

Max vs Ilia
Ortega vs Evloev
AljI vs Volk
Yair vs Allen
Lopes vs Emmett

Also, pray to God the UFC starts signing better 145ers, division is thinner than Paulo Costas hair.

Ortega shouldn't be in a #1 contender fight. Volk arguably deserves a rematch, if not, he should be matched up with Evloev for the next TS.

Let Ortega justify his ranking by fighting an Aljo.