UFC 307, set to take place at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 5, has faced a major setback as 2 weeks before the event, former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling announced that he had to pull out of his scheduled bout. The ‘Funkmaster’ suffered an injury during his sparring, but despite trying his best, couldn’t recover in time. But what of his opponent, Movsar Evloev? 

For Evloev—who boasts an 18-0 record and has had victories over the likes of Dan Ige, Diego Lopes, and Hakeem Dawodu—the only thing missing in his clean UFC record is a finish and has been out of action since his fight against Arnold Allen at UFC 297 (January). On top of this, the cancelation of the UFC 307 fight robbed him of a win over a former champion, a win that would have brought him close to a Featherweight title shot!

Evloev was desperate. It was evident when, right after Sterling announced his withdrawal on social media, Evloev took to X and challenged anyone who would like to take up the fight against him. “I’ve been training for 4 months and would like to stay on this card and fight anybody,” the undefeated fighter claimed. But he did not just stop there.

He followed up with a second tweet, in which he wrote, “I will fight anyone call the UFC if you are interested.” Even then, it was to no avail. You’d wonder what happened of it.

Absolutely nothing. According to reports, sources confirmed to MMAmania.com on September 23 that Evloev has returned to Russia, which means he is no longer a part of the promotion’s return to “SLC.” So, Dana White is now left to replace the fight in the Main Card and has to search for a replacement in the final few days leading up to UFC 307. Meanwhile, Sterling issued an apology to Evloev on social media.

“I did the stem cells. I took time off. I tried to rehab it as much as I can, as best as I can with the [UFC Performance Institute] team here, and unfortunately, it’s out of my hands now. I apologize to Movsar and his team. We’ve been talking and I was really looking forward to punching this guy in his face,” Sterling wrote.

Sterling (24-4), who lost his 135-pound title to Sean O’Malley at UFC 292 back in the summer of 2023, made his featherweight debut with a unanimous decision win over Boston bruiser Calvin Kattar at UFC 300 in April. He further added, “In sparring, I had an injury not requiring surgery, but I was advised by the UFC medical staff that I will not be able to properly compete in this short of a turnaround.” When all seemed to be lost, Diego Lopes came up as a possible opponent for Evloev.

“@Diegolopesmma hey if you wanna defend your honor you have 2.5 weeks to try and get this loss off your record,” Evloev tweeted. Diego Lopes has been one of the most successful and active fighters in the recent past. In the past two years, he has fought thrice. Last year in May, Lopes arrived on the UFC 288 roster on short notice when he battled the undefeated rising Russian contender, Movsar Evloev. However, he lost the bout via a hard-fought unanimous decision.

So, Lopes would have got a chance to redeem himself in this rematch. Although the duo were engaged in a bit of heat and the fight fans expected them to fight once again, Lopes sent forth a refusal letter on social media. Lopes wrote, “Brother, since my first victory in the UFC, I called you to fight. You could make excuses that you were above me in the rankings. Since our fight, I have 5 victories. While you have only fought once. You were lower in the rankings. Not to mention that you have not finished anyone.”

For context, in the official UFC rankings, Lopes is seated at No. 3 after his win over Brian Ortega at the UFC 306. Evloev is three spots behind at No. 6. This cancellation has the potential to cost Dana White quite a bit of profit, even though the main event between Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr. will be a banger. Nevertheless, he still has a few opponents to go up against, in case he wishes to fight later on.

Other possible opponents that Evloev can fight sometime later

While everyone steered away from Evloev, there was one fighter who stood up and got ready to fight Evloev on such short notice. But the MMA Gods simply didn’t wish for the Russian to fight on the 5th of October. Jean Silva was ready to fight Evloev, but definitely not at UFC 307. He still needed time to heal his injured shoulder.

In a video challenging Evloev, Silva hoped to get himself booked against Evloev at UFC 309. He said, “Evloev, I know your fight is off, and I accept to fight with you. But I can’t fight on October 5th. The UFC and my doctor Daniel didn’t allow me to fight. But on November 16, if you agree, on the Jon Jones card, I guarantee that you will have a war. Let’s go?”

Silva has finished his first three Octagon appearances by knockout or technical knockout. The 27-year-old most recently made a two-week turnaround from a KO win over Charles Jourdain in the UFC 303 followed by a triumph against Drew Dober in a lightweight clash in the UFC Fight Night in July. Sterling also didn’t drop the idea of fighting Evloev, as well. In his announcement, the former bantamweight champion offered that he can re-book the fight for sometime in December. What if the fight didn’t get re-booked? Well, in that case, one more opponent might turn up. 

UFC Featherweight prospect Bryce Mitchell is apparently interested in filling up the spot, but not in the UFC 307. Seems like he has taken his lesson after his short-notice fight against Josh Emmett at the UFC 306. However, as he put it, he is not going to take the fight away from Sterling.

“I wouldn’t take the fight from Aljo. I’m buddies with Aljo. So if Aljo don’t want to fight him in a couple of months because he needs more time and they need somebody, I’m the dude. There’s not a bigger draw. Who else are you going to get to fight Movsar that will fill up seats?” Mitchell said about the fight. Who do you think can be up next against Evloev? Let us know in the comments.