Dan Ige and Movsar Evloev fight Saturday in UFC Fight Night 207 at the UFC Apex. Ige enters this fight with a 15-5 record and has won 40 percent of his fights by decision. Evloev enters this fight with a 15-0 record and has won 53 percent of his fights by decision.
Ige has split his last six fights and is coming off a December loss to Josh Emmett. He is averaging 3.90 significant strikes per minute, with an accuracy percentage of 46 percent. Ige is averaging 1.35 takedowns with an accuracy percentage of 25 percent. Ige is coming off a decision loss at UFC 269 where he landed 73 total strikes and produced one takedown. You could argue Ige won the fight, but he now hopes to avoid three straight losses for the first time in his career. Ige is a black belt in BJJ and a brown belt in Judo, and he does some of his best work on the ground or in the clinch. He has a fabulous gas tank that’s helped him win 6 of his 11 career decisions. Ige has solid defense standing up and has 5 submission victories in his career. Ige has never been finished in his career. This will be Ige’s fifth career fight in Nevada.
This will be Evloev’s fourth fight since 2020 and is coming off a June (2021) win over Hakeem Dawodu. Evloev is averaging 4.32 significant strikes per minute, with an accuracy percentage of 44 percent. Evloev is averaging 4 takedowns with an accuracy percentage of 47 percent. Evloev is coming off a decision win at UFC 263 where he landed 193 total strikes and produced 9 takedowns. Evloev is now 5-0 under the UFC banner, and all five victories have been won in decision. Evloev is a grappler at heart who wants a fight on the canvas, where he wears on his opponent and doesn’t provide any breathing room. All four of Evloev’s submissions have come via rear-naked choke, and he has some nice ground and pound as well. Evloev still has to improve his standup to become a more balanced fighter, but he’s undefeated at 28 years old and is quietly climbing the featherweight rankings. This will be Evloev’s first career fight in Nevada.
This should be a fun fight between two guys who want to clinch and get the bout on the canvas, so it will be a chess match and one mistake could cost either fighter. The difference is Evloev is sharper with his takedown attempts, he has more success, and he’s the better defender of the takedown as well. Evloev has also landed a higher volume of strikes while showing better defense. Evloev hasn’t given us any reason to bet against him just yet, and Ige hasn’t looked great in his last couple of fights.
I have to give Evloev the edge, and I’ll side with him in decision to shave down the price.