Alexander Volkanovski‘s second title defense may have just leaked, and the UFC wasn’t the one doing it. Instead, the biggest clue came from Ali Abdelaziz, the powerhouse manager of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, and unbeaten featherweight contender Movsar Evloev.

Abdelaziz jumped on X and kept things extremely simple, providing no caption or explanation, just a name drop and emojis that will be enough to send MMA fans into a frenzy.

“@MovsarUFC 🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇” he wrote on X.

The emojis next to Movsar Evloev’s name seem to suggest that a title fight is imminent for the No. 1-ranked featherweight.

While cryptic, many fans believe the timing of the post was his way of announcing that Movsar Evloev will finally get the featherweight title fight he’s been wanting for so long. After all, the undefeated Russian has long been considered by fight fans as the most deserving contender at 145 pounds.

After improving his perfect professional record to 20-0 with a win over Lerone Murphy at UFC London in March, Evloev even stated that his bout with Alexander Volkanovski had already been signed.

“I am back, end of the summer, and new Inshallah,” he had tweeted.

And even though the UFC simply didn’t make anything official, the signs have continued to point in that direction ever since.

During a recent YouTube video, ‘The Great’ himself confessed that he is already preparing for Movsar Evloev’s wrestling-heavy challenge.

“It’s not locked in, but you know, it’s pretty obvious it’s probably gonna be Movsar,” Volkanovski said. “So get all that wrestling in nice and early. Did a grappling session afterwards as well, went over a few things, which is cool, got to drill some more.

“And then a couple of live rounds, which, because I’m doing, uh, morning sessions, and I’m gonna do a few morning sessions, and I’ve got pretty much all day to recover.”

To be fair, the Australian has every reason to concentrate on that part of his game. Movsar Evloev has maintained his flawless 20-0 record by consistently defeating elite opponents, including wins over Diego Lopes, Dan Ige, Arnold Allen, Aljamain Sterling, and, most recently, Lerone Murphy. And that’s exactly why the Aussie has previously stated that one of the main incentives for the match is the opportunity to be the first guy to hand Evloev a professional defeat.

But it is worth noting that while the Russian seems destined for a title shot, one featherweight contender isn’t convinced the fight will actually happen.

Jean Silva bets on Movsar Evloev pulling out of Alexander Volkanovski fight

Fresh off being booked to headline Noche UFC against Yair Rodriguez on September 12, Jean Silva admitted he still believes he could somehow find himself challenging ‘The Great’ instead.

The Brazilian revealed the details of this theory in a pre-recorded video after learning about his next fight.

“Probably Evloev will fight while there’s no one else,” Silva said. “But there’s a big risk that he’ll pull out of the fight and they’ll put me in there.”

“I have a slight feeling in my heart that Evloev will pull out and I’ll fight (Volkanovski).”

And as bizarre as such a prediction may sound, Movsar Evloev’s history gives ‘Lord’ a good reason to be optimistic.

Throughout his MMA career, the undefeated Russian has had 13 fights cancelled (11 just in the UFC), five of which were directly attributed to him. Those included scheduled matchups against Antun Račić, Nate Landwehr, Ilia Topuria, Bryce Mitchell, and, most recently, Aaron Pico.

For now, though, all signs point to Alexander Volkanovski finally defending his featherweight title against the only unbeaten rival remaining near the top of the division. And if Ali Abdelaziz’s most recent social media post is any indication, an official announcement may not be too far away.