Remember when Movsar Evloev was replaced by Lerone Murphy after the Russian pulled out of his scheduled fight? Evloev was slated to fight Aaron Pico at UFC Abu Dhabi last year. While it promised to be an exciting showdown, the Russian was forced to pull out. Evloev recently revealed the medical reason that forced him to withdraw from the fight.

Interestingly, for Movsar Evloev, medical reasons have always been reasons for his pullouts. His UFC Abu Dhabi fight cancellation marked his fifth overall withdrawal from a UFC fight. Although the actual reason behind the pullout against Pico wasn’t known initially, Evloev has revealed what it was now.

Movsar Evloev reveals ‘Coronavirus’ as the reason

“I never stopped training, but last time I was supposed to fight, I pulled out because of, I don’t know, was some type of Corona [virus] in Thailand,” said Movsar Evloev during an interview with Submission Radio. “You know I was ready to fight. But two weeks before the fight, I start feel so bad, you know, even like doing some easy exercises made me feel so bad. So I decided to pull out because it was not my body wasn’t ready to fight.”

Lerone Murphy went on to defeat Aron Pico in round 1 with a spinning elbow at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi. The win almost earned him a featherweight title shot against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 325. However, the spot was given to Diego Lopes in a questionable move. With that said, Evloev fell behind in the race as new featherweight contenders jumped the rankings. However, the Russian now wants to make a statement by becoming the next contender to challenge Volkanovski.

“But after that, I had three months rehabilitation, you know. And then I started training, was waiting for some fight, and now finally they gave me the fight with a good, undefeated prospect in my division in main card in London,” Evloev continued.

While Evloev’s UFC career has been marred by injury issues and pullouts, he will now look to have continuous activity. Amid that, his upcoming opponent is already envisioning a brutal outcome of their showdown.

Lerone Murphy previews his fight against Movsar Evloev

Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy are arguably two of the top contenders in the featherweight division. With an unblemished record in the promotion, the two will look to hand each other their first loss at UFC London on March 21. Ahead of the bout, Murphy shared his thoughts on fighting Evloev.

“I want to bring the belt back to the UK, obviously, so expect to see the best version of Lerone Murphy. Last time out, I got a stunning knockout, and that’s propelled me to want more,” said Murphy in an interview with UFC Europe. “I’m going to go in there, and I’m going to fight my heart out and look for the finish.”

Despite boasting confidence about getting a finish, ‘The Miracle’ isn’t overlooking Evloev’s prowess as a fighter. He said, “High level respect, obviously, he’s gone against everyone. He’s undefeated, like myself. One of the best in the world. I believe I’m the best in the world, so the best thing about fighting is you get to find out, innit. On the night, we’re gonna find out, March 21st, let’s bang.”

With a win at UFC London, either Evloev or Murphy will have an opportunity to fight for the featherweight championship next. In that regard, even Alexander Volkanovski is ready to welcome either of them.

On that note, who do you think wins between Evloev and Murphy? Let us know in the comments below!