Preview: UFC Fight Night 207 ‘Volkov vs. Rozenstruik’

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Featherweights

#12 FW | Movsar Evloev (15-0, 5-0 UFC) vs. #10 FW | Dan Ige (15-5, 7-4 UFC)

ODDS: Evloev (-400), Ige (+300)

Evloev has quietly charged up the featherweight ranks, and the Russian gets a big chance here to launch himself close to title contention. Evloev was quite proven before getting the UFC call in 2019, turning away all comers and facing an impressively strong level of competition on the Russian scene while doing so. That has basically continued upon making it to the UFC. Evloev is a dogged and aggressive wrestler, which has been enough to swamp most opponents, but can back it up with a basic but functional striking game that allows him to get back to where he is most comfortable. It all works well, though there is the sense that Evloev could suffer a spectacular defeat whenever he finally loses his undefeated record. He is constantly willing to put himself in bad positions in order to work towards an advantage, whether it is a willingness to eat strikes or a habit of getting locked up in a submission attempt before he turns things around. That makes Ige a dangerous test, as the Hawaiian looks to be settling in as a gatekeeper to the featherweight elite during his own charge up the 145-pound ladder. “50K” progressed past his own overly aggressive approach and put together a five-fight winning streak that made him a viable UFC Fight Night main eventer, but Ige has hit a clear ceiling in his last few fights. Calvin Kattar, Chan Sung Jung and Josh Emmett each had a combination of size, technique and power that could meet Ige head-on and win a dogfight. Still, beating Ige does involve charging into danger and surviving what he brings to the table, which is not always a guarantee. That string of losses was broken up by a 22-second knockout of Gavin Tucker, and decision wins over Mirsad Bektic and Edson Barboza showed Ige’s ability to gut through tough moments and turn things into a fun scrap. Evloev has enough of a one-track mind that he might find himself knocked out if Ige can catch him unawares, but this is still the Russian’s fight to lose. Ige has shown enough grappling skill that he should be able to keep finding his way to his feet, but Evloev is relentless enough that he should be able to keep scoring takedowns and frustrating the Hawaiian over the course of the fight. Ige has a solid puncher’s chance, but the pick is Evloev via decision.


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Volkov vs. Rozenstruik
Evloev vs. Ige
Trizano vs. Almeida
Silva vs. Botelho
Menifield vs. Mozharov
Herrig vs. Kowalkiewicz
The Prelims