Alexander Volkanovski’s retirement talks are hardly a surprise anymore, as they began even before the Aussie became a two-time featherweight champion last year. But ahead of his second title defense this year at UFC 333, ‘The Great’ made it clear that he would hang up his gloves if he suffered a terrible defeat against Movsar Evloev. However, a surprising twist came when the undefeated Russian also claimed that he might consider retirement, leaving everyone scratching their heads.

Now, Evloev has cleared up the confusion surrounding his retirement comment, revealing that he is not actually planning to say goodbye to the sport anytime soon.

“No, that means I’m going to win,” the Russian told MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn in the Bohn Fire podcast. “But, like I said, everything can happen. You can be a favorite like 110 or 101, but one punch can stop everything you have prepared. Of course, I’m ready for this, too.

“I will do everything to win, but anything can happen, especially when you fight with a guy like him. We respect him enough, but we are not giving him too much respect by letting him win this fight.”

That means Movsar Evloev’s retirement claim was more about mentally preparing himself for a stern challenge like Alexander Volkanovski than actually planning to walk away from MMA. In fact, the reasoning becomes even clearer when looking at how Evloev initially expressed his willingness to leave the sport.

After Volkanovski told Australia’s 10 News that he would consider retirement only if things went “terribly” wrong against Evloev, or that he would “keep it rolling” if he suffered less damage, Red Fury MMA shared the featherweight champion’s clip on Instagram. Evloev reposted it and captioned it, “same thing.”

In that case, Evloev was echoing Volkanovski’s sentiment about stepping away from the sport. But the Russian has now clarified that he was using the idea as extra motivation heading into UFC 333 rather than actually planning to ride off into the sunset.

However, the 32-year-old does believe his future in the featherweight division could eventually come to an end. Evloev said he might move up to 155 pounds because he needs to cut more than 26 pounds to make the featherweight limit.

“I’m getting bigger every day, so one day, I don’t know how long it will take, one day I need to move up because now I need to cut about 26 pounds to be featherweight,” the Ingush native added.  

With Movsar Evloev potentially eyeing a move to the lightweight division, questions remain about what would happen to the 145-pound title if he beats Volkanovski at UFC 333. Would he move up immediately, or defend the belt before making the jump? Those questions could become relevant if the Russian finally dethrones the Australian in Abu Dhabi.

Interestingly, Evloev’s former adversary, Diego Lopes, has already announced that his next fight will take place in the lightweight division. But before looking too far ahead, the undefeated Russian also had plenty to say about Volkanovski’s place in featherweight history.

Movsar Evloev believes Volkanovski tops Jose Aldo as 145-pound GOAT for this important reason

For many, Alexander Volkanovski made the case for surpassing Jose Aldo and becoming the greatest UFC featherweight after defending the belt against Diego Lopes at UFC 325. Still, differences between the two fighters across several factors have kept the GOAT debate alive.

However, Evloev believes the Australian has a clear edge, primarily because of how complete he is as a fighter. The undefeated Russian also made a surprising claim about Aldo’s past with doping tests.

“I think Volk is better than Aldo just because he is a more complete fighter,” Evloev added in the same podcast. “Aldo was great until they did the doping test. Then he went down. Everybody knows.”

It’s an interesting take from Evloev in the featherweight GOAT debate, but the claim about Aldo and doping tests needs some context. The former UFC champion never actually tested positive for a doping violation.

The controversy occurred in June 2015, when USADA, which was the UFC’s drug-testing partner at the time, had a sample collector attempt to conduct an out-of-competition test in Brazil. The collector lacked the proper visa to enter the country and ultimately used a discarded sample instead.

As a result, Jose Aldo had to undergo another fresh test, which eventually came back negative. The incident therefore did not result in a doping violation against the former featherweight champion.

It remains unclear whether Evloev was aware of those details when he made his comment or whether knowing them would change his opinion. Either way, the Russian has made his position clear: he believes Volkanovski’s more complete skill set puts him above Aldo. And if Alexander Volkanovski manages to beat Evloev at UFC 333, ‘The Great’ would only strengthen his argument for being regarded as the greatest featherweight in UFC history.