Movsar Evloev waded into one of MMA’s most polarizing debates, and the reaction hasn’t been kind.
“All fights I watched of women’s fights were not good. They need separate UFC just for women and we’ll see who watches this,” Evloev said to Mike Bohn.
Movsar Evloev went on to clarify just how limited his exposure to the division actually is. He admitted he finds it hard to watch women’s fights in general, and that the only women’s MMA bout he’s actually sat through was one involving Amanda Nunes. Outside of that, he said he hasn’t watched what he’d consider “high-level” women’s fights, before jokingly repeating that there should be a separate UFC just for women.
The comment drew immediate pushback from fans and analysts who pointed out that women’s MMA has produced some of the most memorable fights and biggest stars in the sport’s recent history, from Amanda Nunes to Zhang Weili to Valentina Shevchenko.
Critics argue that dismissing an entire division based on personal taste ignores the technical skill, competitiveness, and drawing power women’s fights have consistently shown on UFC cards, often outperforming men’s bouts in fan reception.
Movsar Evloev’s Comments Echo Past Remarks From Khabib Nurmagomedov
Movsar Evloev isn’t the first fighter from his camp to express skepticism about women in the sport. Khabib Nurmagomedov previously offered his own reasoning for why he wasn’t a fan of women competing in MMA.
“Every person in life has a mission. For a man, it’s to raise children, take care of the family, take care of loved ones. There are very few women who take on big responsibilities. It’s very hard for them. It’s not without reason. God created it this way: A woman is weaker, a man is stronger. People want to change and mix all of this. I don’t know how you feel about it, but I like when a man does men’s work, and a woman does women’s work.”
Critics have called Khabib’s framing outdated, noting that it reduces an entire discipline to traditional gender roles rather than engaging with the actual competitive product women have delivered in the Octagon for over a decade. Now, with Movsar Evloev echoing a similar skepticism, it raises the question of whether these views are more widespread within certain corners of the sport than fans might assume.
The Bigger Picture
Both comments have reignited a familiar debate in combat sports: whether opinions like these reflect genuine skepticism about competitive quality, or a broader discomfort with women succeeding in a space historically dominated by men. Given the sport’s trajectory, fans on the other side of the argument would say the results already speak for themselves.
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