UFC commentator Joe Rogan has called for Alex Volkanovski to throw down with Movsar Evloev on the White House lawn as part of the blockbuster Freedom Fights 250 card.
In a fight seen by many as a featherweight title eliminator, Evloev handed Lerone Murphy his first career loss in Sunday’s main event at The O2 in London.
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The Russian bogeyman wasted no time in calling for a title shot afterwards.
“He’s [Alex Volkanovski] been waiting for me for a really long time,” Evloev said.
“And before he gets too old let’s make it happen… May, I’m ready.
“And if Alex is ready, let’s dance.”
The Australian featherweight kingpin, never one to shy away from a fight, accepted the challenge immediately.
“Old man Volk. This old man still has some tricks left,” Volkanovski said.
“Bring it on. He’s right, I have been calling him out because I believe he has been deserving for quite some time.
“And I love that he said May. That means he’s ready to turn it around pretty quick.”
Speaking on his Fight Companion podcast, Rogan praised Evloev and called for the UFC to book the championship showdown for June 14 – on the historic White House card.
“White House lawn, let’s go,” he said. “Give the man a couple months off.
“We’re only in March, it’s in June. Come on, spice that card up baby!”
Evloev, who is known for his suffocating wrestling, surprisingly chose to stand and trade shots with Murphy on Sunday.
Despite starting slowly, Evloev came on strong in the second half of the fight, leaving Murphy battered and bleeding badly from a gash above his left eye.
Even more impressively, the win came despite the 32-year-old being deducted a point in the fourth round — with referee Marc Goddard penalising Evloev for an illegal groin shot.
Speaking afterwards, Volkanovski described the win as “impressive”.
“I want the guy who deserves it most and it’s pretty clear that’s Movsar,” Volk said.
“He’s had to take the long road.
“He’s done that. And that excites me.
“We’re also in this new era where we’ve got these heavy wrestlers and grapplers who are taking over. They’re quite dominant.
“We’ve got a few champions who wrestle, grapple and not many people know how to deal with that.
“But look at my fight with Islam [Makhachev]. Everyone thought I was going to be controlled. But look at how the fight that turned out to be.
“So that excites me.
“This is the new era and I want an undefeated guy with this style that everyone is struggling with. I’ll show you why I’ve been a champion for so long.”
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Earlier in the day, Michael ‘Venom’ Page defeated training partner Sam Patterson in a thoroughly underwhelming manner.
Over three rounds, MVP landed just 33 strikes against Patterson, promting a chorus of boos from the crowd.
Rogan, who is a known fan of Page and has had him on his podcast, couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“This might be the least action of any fight ever, next to Derrick Lewis and Francis Ngannou,” Rogan said.
“I’ll tell you what, props to Patterson, because this is the first dude that ‘Venom’ Page has fought that doesn’t look like he doesn’t belong in there – other than Ian Machado Garry.
“What if they call this a draw and say we all lost,” he added before the result was read by Bruce Buffer.
“I think it’s bad for him. It’s not good,” Rogan continued after Page’s win was confirmed.
“Now people know how to fight him. People are gonna watch that and say, ‘Oh, just don’t engage, make him engage.’”
Rogan believed that the UFC matchmakers were more to blame than the fighters.
“It’s interesting that they didn’t think of this when they booked this fight,” Rogan said.
“They didn’t think, ‘These guys are training partners, this might be a stinker?’ Maybe they couldn’t get anybody to fight Venom Page in London? That might be a problem, too.
White House UFC card confirmed | 02:45
“It might have been a bunch of dudes said no and Patterson was like ‘Let’s go.’”
“This is a crazy bad fight. That’s a crazy matchup. It’s literally the last guy you want to fight a style like that.”