Russian mixed martial artist (born 1994)
Movsar Magomedovich Evloev [ a] (born February 11, 1994) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist . He currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). 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 .[ 6]
Early life
Evloev, who has a degree in computer programming and law,[ 7] belongs to the Ingush teip Youvloy. Before turning professional in mixed martial arts in 2014,[ 8] Movsar earned the rank of a Master of Sports in Greco-Roman wrestling .[ 5] He is the cousin of Olympic gold medalist, Musa Evloev .[ 9]
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 .[ 10] He knocked out Nevzorov in the second round to claim the title.[ 11]
Evloev then faced Pavel Vitruk for the undisputed title on July 22, 2017.[ 12] He defeated Vitruk by unanimous decision to unify the championship.[ 13]
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.[ 14]
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.[ 15]
In April, he vacated the championship and signed with the UFC .[ 16]
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 .[ 17] However, Gafurov withdrew and was replaced by Seung Woo Choi . Evloev won the fight by unanimous decision.[ 18]
Evloev was then scheduled to face Mike Grundy on August 31, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 157 .[ 19] However, Grundy pulled out of the bout due to injury[ 20] and was then set to be replaced by Zhenhong Lu.[ 21] However, just hours before the fight, Lu pulled out after suffering a cut.[ 22] [ 23] [ 24]
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.[ 25]
Evloev was then slated to face Douglas Silva de Andrade on March 7, 2020, at UFC 248 .[ 26] However, Andrade pulled out of the fight and was set to be replaced by Jamall Emmers .[ 27] However, Evloev pulled out of the contest for unknown reasons.[ 28]
Evloev faced Mike Grundy on July 26, 2020, at UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till .[ 29] He won the fight by unanimous decision.[ 30]
Evloev was scheduled to face Nate Landwehr on December 5, 2020, at UFC on ESPN 19 [ 31] However, on the day of the fight, the bout was cancelled after Evloev tested positive for COVID-19.[ 32]
Evloev faced Nik Lentz , replacing Mike Grundy , at UFC 257 on January 24, 2021. [ 33] He won the fight via split decision.[ 34] 26 out of 26 media outlets scored the bout for Evloev.[ 35]
Evloev faced Hakeem Dawodu on June 12, 2021, at UFC 263 .[ 36] He won the fight via unanimous decision.[ 37]
Evloev was expected to face Ilia Topuria on January 22, 2022, at UFC 270 .[ 38] However, Evloev withdrew from the bout after a positive COVID-19 test[ 39] and was replaced by Charles Jourdain .[ 40]
Evloev faced Dan Ige on June 4, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 207 .[ 41] He won the fight via unanimous decision.[ 42]
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 .[ 43] However, Evloev withdrew in mid October due to injury.[ 44]
Evloev was scheduled to face Bryce Mitchell , replacing injured Jonathan Pearce , on May 6, 2023, at UFC 288 .[ 45] However, Mitchell withdrew due to an undisclosed injury.[ 46] He was replaced by Diego Lopes .[ 47] Evloev defeated Lopes via unanimous decision.[ 48] This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.[ 49]
Evloev faced Arnold Allen on January 20, 2024, at UFC 297 .[ 50] In a competitive bout, he won once again by unanimous decision.[ 51]
Evloev was scheduled to face former UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling on October 5, 2024 at UFC 307 .[ 52] However, Sterling withdrew from the fight due to an injury sustained in sparring.[ 53] The pairing was eventually rescheduled to compete against one another at UFC 310 on December 7, 2024.[ 54] Evloev won the fight by unanimous decision.[ 55]
Evloev was reportedly going to face Aaron Pico on May 17, 2025 at UFC Fight Night 256 .[ 56] However, on an interview, Pico revealed that although it was close to being signed, the bout did not come to fruition.[ 57] The fight was later re-scheduled to take place on July 26, 2025 at UFC on ABC 9 . [ 58] In turn, under two weeks prior to this event, Evloev had to withdraw due to an injury.[ 59]
Evloev is scheduled to face Lerone Murphy in the main event on March 21, 2025, at UFC Fight Night 271 .[ 60]
Championships and accomplishments
Mixed martial arts record
Professional record breakdown
19 matches
19 wins
0 losses
By knockout
3
0
By submission
4
0
By decision
12
0
Res.
Record
Opponent
Method
Event
Date
Round
Time
Location
Notes
Win
19–0
Aljamain Sterling
Decision (unanimous)
UFC 310
December 7, 2024
3
5:00
Las Vegas, Nevada , United States
Win
18–0
Arnold Allen
Decision (unanimous)
UFC 297
January 20, 2024
3
5:00
Toronto, Ontario , Canada
Win
17–0
Diego Lopes
Decision (unanimous)
UFC 288
May 6, 2023
3
5:00
Newark, New Jersey , United States
Fight of the Night.
Win
16–0
Dan Ige
Decision (unanimous)
UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Rozenstruik
June 4, 2022
3
5:00
Las Vegas, Nevada , United States
Win
15–0
Hakeem Dawodu
Decision (unanimous)
UFC 263
June 12, 2021
3
5:00
Glendale, Arizona , United States
Win
14–0
Nik Lentz
Decision (split)
UFC 257
January 24, 2021
3
5:00
Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates
Catchweight (150 lb) bout.
Win
13–0
Mike Grundy
Decision (unanimous)
UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till
July 26, 2020
3
5:00
Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates
Win
12–0
Enrique Barzola
Decision (unanimous)
UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Askren
October 26, 2019
3
5:00
Kallang , Singapore
Win
11–0
Choi Seung-woo
Decision (unanimous)
UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Oleinik
April 20, 2019
3
5:00
Saint Petersburg , Russia
Return to Featherweight. Evloev was deducted one point in round 2 due to an illegal knee.
Win
10–0
Rafael Dias
KO (punches)
M-1 Challenge 95
July 21, 2018
5
0:21
Nazran , Russia
Defended the M-1 Global Bantamweight Championship .
Win
9–0
Sergey Morozov
Submission (rear-naked choke)
M-1 Challenge 88
February 22, 2018
3
3:47
Moscow , Russia
Defended the M-1 Global Bantamweight Championship .
Win
8–0
Pavel Vitruk
Decision (unanimous)
M-1 Challenge 81
July 22, 2017
5
5:00
Nazran , Russia
Won and unified the M-1 Global Bantamweight Championship .
Win
7–0
Alexey Nevzorov
KO (head kick)
M-1 Challenge 76
April 22, 2017
2
2:15
Nalchik , Russia
Won the interim M-1 Global Bantamweight Championship .
Win
6–0
Lee Morrison
Decision (unanimous)
M-1 Challenge 73
December 9, 2016
3
5:00
Nazran , Russia
Win
5–0
Aleksander Krupenkin
TKO (punches)
M-1 Challenge 66
May 27, 2016
1
4:09
Orenburg , Russia
Return to Bantamweight.
Win
4–0
Djulustan Akimov
Submission (rear-naked choke)
M-1 Global: Battle in Nazran 3
May 7, 2016
2
2:01
Nazran , Russia
Win
3–0
Andrey Syrovatkin
Submission (rear-naked choke)
M-1 Global: Battle in Nazran 1
December 12, 2015
1
1:44
Nazran , Russia
Featherweight debut.
Win
2–0
Lu Zhenhong
Decision (unanimous)
M-1 Challenge 58
June 6, 2015
2
5:00
Ingushetia , Russia
Catchweight (141 lb) bout.
Win
1–0
He Jianwei
Submission (rear-naked choke)
M-1 Challenge 53
November 25, 2014
2
1:45
Beijing , China
Bantamweight debut.
[ 63]
See also
Notes
^ Russian : Мовсар Магомедович Евлоев [ 1] Ingush : Йовлой Мухьмада Мовсар , romanized: Jovluoj Mux́mada Movsar
References
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External links
Updated to 16 December 2025