UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski reacted Movsar Evloev’s win over Lerone Murphy on Saturday, with Evloev surely now to become his next challenger.

Evloev was 19-0 and ranked No. 1 behind Volkanovski as champion heading into Fight Night in London, facing a hostile crowd with home national Murphy stood opposite him in what was essentially a title eliminator. 

Evloev had to ride through some stiff shots and kicks but he managed to get a Majority Decision after five rounds. And after the match, said the UFC had no excuse now not to book him against the featherweight champion.

Volkanovski himself reacted to the fight and his next challenger during the UFC Post-Show, noting that Evloev appeared to be making a point of standing and fighting Murphy rather than leaning into his wrestling ability.

“Yeah, it was an interesting one. I don’t think we all expected Movsar to just want to stand with Lerone. Whether that was something he felt he had to do just so he could guarantee himself a title shot, I’m not too sure. But you could see that he was a lot stronger when he wanted to take it down, and then was able to outdo him on the feet. So for me, it’s quite impressive. Fair play to him, he’s 20-0 now and he’s next,” he said.

Alexander Volkanovski reacts to Movsar Evloev’s win over Lerone Murphy at #UFCLondon:

“He’s 20-0 now and he’s next.”

📺 @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/RWfych3NXv

— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) March 21, 2026

Volkanovski is in his second reign as Featherweight Champion having first dethroned Max Holloway in December 2019. 

He moved up to challenge Islam Makhachev for the Lightweight title in February 2023, failing in that attempt before coming back to featherweight and defending his title later that year, unifying it with the Interim title held by Yair Rodriguez. He ended the year with another loss to Makhachev after stepping in at the last minute to challenge for the Lightweight title again, and in February 2024 was dethroned by Ilia Topuria.

Topuria moved up to lightweight and reigns as the current Lightweight Champion, with Makhachev having gone further up to become Welterweight Champion. And Volkanovski won the vacant title over Diego Lopes last year before cementing his first defense over Lopes in January.