Tommy McMillen eyes backup role for UFC 333 title fight

Tommy McMillen is shooting his shot

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - JULY 18: (R-L) Tommy McMillen punches Alberto Montes of Venezuela in a featherweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Paycom Center on July 18, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) 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.” 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.” 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.”