UFC 307 has faced a major setback, and the world of mixed martial arts has indeed gone into shock! Just 2 weeks prior to the event, the ‘Funkmaster’ announced that he had to pull out of his scheduled bout. The former bantamweight champion suffered an injury during his sparring, but despite trying his best, couldn’t recover in time. But what of his opponent? Well, he was left in desperation, asking for anyone to fight him. Unfortunately, the MMA Gods weren’t supportive of him and the entire fight was scrapped off the charts.

Needless to say, Aljamain Sterling’s withdrawal took a pretty heavy toll on UFC 307. Even after desperately asking for someone to fight against, Sterling’s opponent was unable to secure his place at the event and was ultimately forced to walk away.

Dana White faces disappointment as Movsar Evloev drops off UFC 307

Right after Sterling announced his withdrawal on social media, Evloev took to X and called out anyone 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. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure if the MMA promotion could find someone to fight him. 

The world witnessed how desperate Evloev was to step inside the Octagon when he released a second tweet, in which he wrote, “I will fight anyone call the ufc if you are interested.” But alas! It was to no avail. Even though he has 18 phenomenal victories and absolutely no defeats in his professional mixed martial arts career, no one was willing to fight him. After all, his undefeated streak did lack a cool finisher. 

When all seemed to be lost, Diego Lopes came up as a possible opponent for Evloev. The two had already fought before, and Lopes would get a chance to redeem himself in this rematch. After all, the first bout at UFC 288 didn’t go in the Brazilian’s favor. He had already defeated Brian Ortega at Noche UFC, and it was nigh on impossible for him to fight again so soon. 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.”

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. With absolutely no one left to fight, Evloev had no choice but to drop off. 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?”

Sterling 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, Sterling has another opponent in mind. And it was none other than Diego Lopes. 

Given his record, Evloev also has the chance to climb up the ladder and fight for the championship belt. And it would happen pretty soon. 

What are your thoughts on Evloev’s withdrawal from UFC 307? Do you have any possible prospect that he could have gone against? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.