Alexander
Volkanovski is confident Movsar
Evloev will be the next challenger for his
Ultimate Fighting Championship title.

Volkanovski (28-4) was originally expected to defend his title
against Evloev (20-0) after winning the vacant title against
Diego
Lopes last year to begin his second reign. However, Lopes, who
had already lost to Evloev, was controversially booked for a
rematch against Volkanovski, who defeated the Brazilian yet again
in January.

Movsar Evloev's undefeated UFC run has Volkanovski preparing
for a potential featherweight title fight

Volkanovski seems confident that his next title defense will be
against Evloev, who is 10-0 in the UFC, although winning all his
Octagon outings via decision. The Australian champ is currently in
Thailand and putting in some wrestling work to prepare for the
undefeated Russian.

“It's pretty obvious it's probably going to be Movsar,†Volkanovski
said on his YouTube channel. “So, I get all that wrestling in nice
and early. Did a bit of a grappling session afterwards as well,
then did a couple of live rounds.â€

Volkanovski defended the featherweight title five times in his
first title run before losing to Ilia
Topuria in 2024. “The Great†reclaimed the vacant title against
Lopes when Topuria moved up to lightweight. Meanwhile, Evloev's
last four wins came against Lerone
Murphy, Aljamain
Sterling, Arnold
Allen and Lopes.

Four more bouts have been added to the
Ultimate Fighting Championship's upcoming trip to Los Angeles,
including Gable
Steveson’s second fight in the promotion.

The UFC announced that Steveson will meet Sean Sharaf
in a heavyweight clash at UFC
331, while Robelis
Despaigne returns to the Octagon against Tai
Tuivasa. Also confirmed for the Sept. 19 event is a
middleweight matchup pitting Ryan Gandra
against Osman Diaz
and a lightweight bout between Brian
Ortega and Renato
Carneiro.

Gable Steveson's sophomore UFC bout, Renato Carneiro-Brian
Ortega rematch among new additions to UFC 331

Following the announcement that UFC 331 will be headlined by
Joshua
Van’s flyweight title rematch against former champion Alexandre
Pantoja, the promotion dropped more additions to the
undercard.

Steveson, who made his UFC debut against Elisha
Ellison in July, is set to return against Sharaf, who's 0-2
inside the Octagon. Despaigne returns to the UFC after rebuilding
momentum outside the promotion and will face Tuivasa, who enters
the bout looking to halt a seven-fight losing streak.

Gandra enters his matchup against Diaz high in confidence following
knockout victories over Jose Medina
and Zach
Reese. Diaz is looking to rebound from a loss to Ateba
Abega Gautier.

Carneiro enters his rematch with Ortega coming off a submission
victory over Chris
Duncan. Meanwhile, “T-City,†a former two-time UFC
featherweight title challenger, is committing to a move up to
lightweight in taking on a former title challenger at 155 pounds.
Ortega and “Money Moicano†locked horns at featherweight nearly a
decade ago, with the former winning via submission.

Following the latest set of announcements, the UFC 331 card is as
follows:
Joshua
Van vs. Alexandre
Pantoja 2
Arman
Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio
Ruffy
Patricio
Freire vs. Doo Ho
Choi
Renato
“Money†Moicano vs. Brian
Ortega 2
Alonzo
Menifield vs. Iwo
Baraniewski
Gable
Steveson vs. Sean
Sharaf
Marlon
Vera vs. Charles
Jourdain
Tai
Tuivasa vs. Robelis
Despaigne
Edmen
Shahbazyan vs. Brunno
Ferreira
Giga
Chikadze vs. Joanderson
Brito
Casey
O’Neill vs. Eduarda
Moura
Ryan
Gandra vs. Osman
Diaz
Michael
Aswell vs. Joo Sang
Yoo

Under the LA lights 😤

Adding some entertainment to #CryptoCom
#UFC331!

[ Tickets on sale TODAY | LIVE SEP 19 at @CryptoComArena
] pic.twitter.com/EyA8Keb9EN

— UFC (@ufc) August
5, 2026

Merab
Dvalishvili's nose is unmistakable.

Dvalishvili (21-5) recently tried to prank customers at a gas
station. The former
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight king wore a
long-haired wig and makeup while posing as an employee.

Former UFC bantamweight champion can’t fool customers with a
disguise

An unsuspecting customer told Dvalishvili, without recognizing “The
Machine,†that it would be difficult for him to reclaim the
bantamweight belt.

However, his prank failed on another customer, as the Georgian had
to own up when a woman recognized him. The woman revealed that
Dvalishvili's nose gave him away.

Dvalishvili's nose is slightly crooked due to years of wear and
tear from fights and it took significant damage in his last bout.
He defended his title thrice last year before losing to Petr Yan in a
rematch this past December. Although unconfirmed by the UFC, they
have both indicated that they're set to run it back in a trilogy
bout next.

🤣👃 Merab can't prank his own people… his
nose gives him away immediately😭:

ðŸ—£ï¸ Merab: “How are you paying?â€

ðŸ—£ï¸ Woman: “I think I know you… Merab
Dvalishvili?â€

ðŸ—£ï¸ Merab: “Merab
Dvalishvili.â€

ðŸ—£ï¸ Woman: “Your nose gave you away.â€

🎥 Hungrymantv â–«ï¸ pic.twitter.com/i3jHK4uWl7

— Full Mount MMA (@MMAFullMount)
August 6, 2026