Surging featherweight contender Kevin Vallejos wants Alexander Volkanovski to be successful in his UFC title defense Saturday, when he battles undefeated Movsar Evloev in Abu Dhabi, because he wants to be the one to dethrone “The Great” in 2027.
Vallejos is scheduled to face former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling in the co-main event of UFC Qatar on Nov. 21, an opportunity earned after winning four in a row in the promotion. Now, he hopes to see Volkanovski come out on top against Evloev to keep a potential matchup for the title alive.
“I would like Volkanovski to win,” Vallejos told MMA Fighting. “I would like that because if I knock Sterling out, I would like to fight Volkanovski. I would like to take the title away from Volkanovski.”
Volkanovski enters UFC 333 coming off of back-to-back wins over Diego Lopes while Evloev, who beat Lopes back in 2023, earned a shot at UFC gold following 10 octagon victories, capped off by decisions over Arnold Allen, Aljamain Sterling, and Lerone Murphy.
“Evloev also has everything he needs to win,” Vallejos said. “He is 20-0, he has a very good record, but beating a guy who dominated the entire division for a long time… I think [Volkanovski] has more weight behind him when it comes to winning the title.
“[Evloev] will make things difficult for Volk, very difficult, but I see Volk winning. He has fought bigger guys, like Islam, and it took a lot to take him down. I think that if Evloev tries to take Volk down, Volk will know very well how to defend himself or get back to his feet.”
Vallejos has only lost once in 19 professional MMA bouts, a three-round war with Jean Silva at Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023. Three years later, Silva is also hunting for a title shot after a 7-1 run in the UFC.
“It is a very difficult division,” Vallejos said, “But I think that if I win and knock out a guy like Sterling, who has, as you said, a lot of history and is a former champion, I believe that a strong win over him would give me a title opportunity. Or at least put me in the conversation as the next contender.”
Silva’s most recent showing was a third-round submission victory over Jose Miguel Delgado, who stepped in on short notice as a replacement for Yair Rodriguez. Despite his past setback against the Brazilian, Vallejos believes that dominating Sterling could still be enough to surpass Silva even without a finish.
“If I don’t knock him out and win by decision,” Vallejos said, “But show my level of takedown defense and also my ability to go three rounds with a guy who has a lot of experience fighting five-round fights and knows how to manage a fight, I think I would also show that I have the necessary skills for that opportunity.”