UFC featherweight contender Evloev draws backlash over sexist remarks about women's MMA

Movsar Evloev (32, Russia), who is set to challenge UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski for the title, has drawn criticism after making sexist remarks about women's MMA.

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie reporter Mike Bohn, Evloev said he does not watch women's fights and finds them unwatchable. "I don't watch women's fights. I just can't watch it. It's too hard to watch," he said, dismissing women's bouts as not worth viewing.

He added that he had seen perhaps one women's fight — the second bout between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Rose Namajunas — and acknowledged it was a good, high-level contest. "I don't watch a lot of fights, but all the women's fights I've seen were not good," he said. "Maybe they need a separate UFC just for women."

UFC introduced a women's division in late 2012 and held its first women's main event the following year, featuring Ronda Rousey against Liz Carmouche. While the early level of competition was admittedly modest, the women's divisions have grown dramatically over the past 13 years, and questions about the quality of women's bouts are rarely raised today.

Despite that progress, Evloev's dismissal of women's MMA drew pushback from several outlets, with some questioning whether he was in any position to make such a critique.

MMA Mania wrote in its coverage that Evloev is far from the first prominent fighter to criticize women's MMA, but called him "the least qualified to make such a criticism." In 10 UFC bouts, Evloev has never once recorded a finish, and his fights have been so widely panned as boring that UFC matchmakers kept him out of featherweight title contention until they had nearly exhausted all other available challengers.

On his suggestion that women's MMA needs its own separate organization, MMA Mania noted that such a promotion already exists — Invicta FC.

Evloev is not the first Russian fighter to voice such views. Fedor Emelianenko, widely regarded as the greatest heavyweight of the 2000s, said in 2014 that while he respected athletes who defended their country's honor in the Olympics, wrestling and boxing, he could not support women's MMA as a combination of those disciplines. "Women should do housework and raise children," he said at the time. "There are many sports that help with that, but MMA is not one of them."

In March, Khabib Nurmagomedov — considered one of the greatest fighters in UFC history — added a religious dimension to similar sentiments, saying it was strange and difficult for him to watch women fighting and getting hit in the face. "Women were created weaker, men were created stronger," he said. Calls for a clarification and apology followed, but Nurmagomedov stood by his remarks.

Meanwhile, Evloev carries an unbeaten record of 20 wins and no losses into his title fight against reigning champion Volkanovski, scheduled for October in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The bout is considered an even matchup. Evloev has vowed to attempt 100 takedowns, making Volkanovski's ground defense the likely deciding factor.