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Tommy McMillen offers to be backup for Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev title fight, ‘dust any of those boys’ at UFC 333

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Tommy McMillen offers to be backup for Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev title fight, ‘dust any of those boys’ at UFC 333

Tommy McMillen is so confident he'll take care of business on Saturday that he's offering his services to be the backup fighter in the upcoming featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Movsar Evloev.

McMillen is set to face fellow undefeated prospect Marwan Rahiki in the highly-anticipated featured bout of Noche UFC this weekend in Glendale, Ariz.

A month ago, McMillen made headlines for a clip that surfaced during an interview with Full Send's Steiny, saying he would defeat Volkanovski. “Gun†clarified what happened in that moment, but is still quite confident he'd defeat the current champion.

“Yeah, first of all, that was a clip taken a little bit out of context,†McMillen told MMA Fighting. “Don't get me wrong. The first question I got asked that day was – this kid Steiny, he wanted to do some questions like that, like who would I match up with – and he wanted to know, he asked who is of the GOATs right now at 145. I said the GOAT at 145 does have to be Volk. He's earned his spot as a GOAT.

“But Steinie then asked after that, after I mentioned Volk, if the money was right because he just wanted to see where my mentality is at, he's like, ‘Would you fight Volk?' And I'm like, of course, bro. You don't get to the UFC and do the things I'm doing and not just be down to fight anybody for the right amount of money. So, 100 percent. But then the question on top of that was like, do I think I could win? And yes, 100 percent.â€

Volkanovski is set to face Evloev in his next title defense at UFC 333 — which takes place Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. “The Great†successfully defended his belt earlier this year with a lopsided decision win against Diego Lopes in their rematch. Evloev earned his shot with a decision win over Lerone Murphy at UFC London in March.

McMillen, who is 2-0 with two bonus-earning finishes this year, believes his size and style would be a handful for anybody — including Volkanovski and Evloev.

“I don't think there's a guy in this world at 145 pounds I can't beat,†McMillen explains. “And that's where my confidence comes from. I truly believe I can beat anybody at 145 pounds. I know I have the tools to. I'm 6'6, 220 pounds. Like 6'6, 220. I'm a f*cking big 45er. So I have that in my arsenal, and then you add the fact that I've been wrestling my whole life.I can stop people's wrestling if I need to. And then just my love for fighting and be able to fight with anybody.

“Hell yeah, bro. I think I have the tools to fight anybody in this world at 145 pounds.â€

McMillen faces Rahiki, who is also 2-0 with a pair of stoppage wins in his octagon tenure. The 9-0 fighter enters as a slight underdog against McMillen in a fight that has garnered extra interest over the past few weeks.

The 28-year-old McMillen believes his performance will be so impressive that he's offering to step in for either Volkanovski or Evloev — who McMillen is not overly impressed with.

“If the UFC hit me up and they need a backup for that fight, Volk and whatever the other f*ck, dude – the other dude's so boring, let's be real,†McMillen said. “Nobody wants to see him win. F*ck wrestlers, dude. You got to want to go out there and lay on people. I could do that, too. I could have done that in all my last fights.

“I could go out there and lay on these guys and f*cking be a Khamzat and just do all that. That shit's boring, bro. No one wants to do that. So let's hope Volk wins. But like,100 percent, UFC wants to pay me and be like, ‘Yo, Tommy, come be the backup for this fight.' F*cking send me, bro. I'll pull up there like a bag of f*cking Cheez-Its and dust any one of them boys, bro.â€

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MMA

10 UFC wins, zero finishes: Movsar Evloev defends his fighting style

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10 UFC wins, zero finishes: Movsar Evloev defends his fighting style
Movsar
Evloev rejects the notion that fans only want bloody
fights.

Evloev is scheduled to challenge Alexander
Volkanovski for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight title at
UFC 333 on Oct. 24 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The Russian
challenger has won all 10 of his UFC bouts by decision but believes
fans appreciate his fighting style.

Movsar Evloev argues wrestling can entertain UFC fans ahead of
Volkanovski title fight

The recent departures of Michael
Page and Farid
Basharat have fueled debate about whether winning is enough to
secure a new UFC contract. Neither fighter was re-signed despite a
winning streak, though a lack of finishes has not been established
as the reason for either departure.

Evloev believes finishes are not the only measure of a fighter's
value. He says fans also appreciate tactics, skill and
wrestling.

“I have zero finishes in UFC, but I'm still in the UFC and I'm
fighting for the title,†Evloev told MMA Fighting. “That means only
finishes are not important. To show a good fight is also important.
If you have no finish, you can still show a good fight, an exciting
fight; you can show the beauty of wrestling. There are not just
fans of MMA who just wait for blood. There are so many good fans
who know MMA, and they understand, and maybe because of them I'm
still in the UFC.â€

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MMA

Morning Report | Chris Weidman, Dustin Poirier recall opponents’ dramatic change from weigh-in to fight night: ‘Who the f*ck is this guy?’

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Morning Report | Chris Weidman, Dustin Poirier recall opponents’ dramatic change from weigh-in to fight night: ‘Who the f*ck is this guy?’

What’s up best community in sports? Hope you’re having a great start to the week.

Tomorrow (later than usual), we’re going LIVE with a special Between the Links episode. I’ll be in Las Vegas, and joining me will be the great José Youngs to answer your questions about UFC 333, the two title fights, RAF 14, and much more.

Here’s your chance to get your questions in, early and often. Show will go live around 6-6:30-ish p.m. ET, depending on my fun day of travel. Fire away, and we’ll see you tomorrow.

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MMA

Alexander Volkanovski predicts wild finish of 20-0 Movsar Evloev

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Alexander Volkanovski predicts 'wild' finish of 20-0 Movsar Evloev
Alexander
Volkanovski is brimming with confidence ahead of his next title
defense.

Volkanovski (28-4) is scheduled to defend his
Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight title against
Movsar
Evloev (20-0) at
UFC 333 on Oct. 24 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The Australian
champion believes he can deliver a career-best performance against
the undefeated Russian.

Alexander Volkanovski doubts Movsar Evloev can outgrapple him
for 25 minutes at UFC 333

Evloev has won all 10 of his UFC bouts by decision, but Volkanovski
doubts the challenger can outgrapple him for five rounds. “The
Great†believes Evloev would need to catch him with a decisive
strike to win.

“Trying to outgrapple me for 25 minutes, I can't see it,â€
Volkanovski told MMA Junkie. “I believe that the only chance that
any of these guys have is for them to catch me… If he thinks he can
beat me by decision or he thinks he can outgrapple me, I'm sure
he's gonna try, we'll see. I'm just very confident in my skills and
the fighter I still am… I think I can do it in pretty wild fashion.
I believe I can get a finish. I believe I can do it inside five… A
lot of people are going to go say after this fight, ‘Is that the
best Volk we’ve ever seen?'â€

Volkanovski first won the title against Max
Holloway in 2019 and defended it five times before losing to
Ilia
Topuria in 2024. He reclaimed the vacant championship against
Diego
Lopes last year after Topuria moved up to lightweight, then
defended it in their rematch in January.

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