On October 24, the UFC goes for its yearly numbered event to Abu Dhabi, UAE. In the main event, featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski puts his title on the line against the undefeated Russian Movsar Evloev.
Also, in the co-main event, a title is on the line at bantamweight. Champion Petr Yan meets rival and former champion Merab Dvalishvili for the third time. The UFC announced the fights moments ago. The UFC 333 event takes place at the Etihad Arena.
Long Time In The Making
The highly anticipated title fight between champion Alexander Volkanovski and challenger Movsar Evloev is a long time coming. Evloev has been the top contender for a long time and finally gets his shot at UFC gold. Volkanovski has been one of the best, if not the best, fighters in the featherweight division. The Australian came into the UFC just under ten years ago. After winning seven fights, including victories over Chad Mendes and former UFC champion and legend José Aldo, Volkanovski won the title by defeating Max Holloway.
Volkanovski defended the title four times and got a shot at lightweight gold. Volkanovski fought the then-champion Islam Makhachev twice and lost both fights. In between, he defended his featherweight title for the fifth time by beating Yair Rodríguez. In his sixth title defense, Volkanovski lost by knockout against Ilia Topuria. A rematch looked to be next, but Topuria left the division, and Volkanovski won the title back by beating Diego Lopes. Earlier this year, Volkanovski defended the title in a rematch against Lopes. Now he takes on the undefeated Evloev.
The Top Contender For A Long Time
The Russian fighter came into the UFC as the M-1 Global champion in 2018. Evloev built up a record in the Octagon of ten wins and zero losses. After five wins in his first three years as a UFC fighter, he got a chance to fight the ranked Dan Ige. Evloev won after three rounds via unanimous decision. Evloev then fought later two-time title challenger Diego Lopes. It was Lopes’s debut on a week’s notice. Evloev won after three rounds via unanimous decision and won his first and only bonus in the UFC.
After also beating Arnold Allen and former champion Aljamain Sterling in 2024, Evloev hoped for a title shot. Instead of that, the UFC gave him newcomer Aaron Pico. Evloev pulled out with an injury and didn’t fight in 2025. Earlier this year, he took on Lerone Murphy in an unofficial title eliminator. After a competitive fight, Evloev won, despite a point deduction, via majority decision. With a 10-0 record in the UFC, he finally gets his title shot against Alexander Volkanovski.
The Final Chapter?
In the co-main event, champion Petr Yan and former champion Merab Dvalishvili meet each other again for the bantamweight title. Yan fought Dvalishvili back in 2023 for the first time. Yan had lost his title back then, and Dvalishvili was working towards a chance to fight for the title. Dvalishvili dominated the fight and got his opportunity to fight for the title and won the belt a year later against Sean O’Malley. Yan had to build back up after losing three fights in a row against Song Yadong, Deiveson Figueiredo, and Marcus McGhee. While Yan was working his way back up to the title, Dvalishvili defended his title three times in 2025.
During the final pay-per-view event of 2025, Dvalishvili went for a record-setting fourth title defense in one calendar year. He took on Yan in a rematch. Dvalishili came in as the favorite but was outclassed by the Russian, who broke the 14-fight winning streak of the Georgian to beat him after five rounds by unanimous decision. With the current outcome after two fights between the two now being a tie, a third fight has to decide who is the better of the two fighters. Can Yan hold on to the title, or is it Dvalishvili who takes back the gold?
UFC 333 – Abu Dhabi (October 24)
- Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev
- Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili
- Lon’er Kavanagh vs. Ramazan Temirov
- Alexander Volkov vs. Rizvan Kuniev
- Arnold Allen vs. Aaron Pico
- Dominick Reyes vs. Azamat Murzakanov
- Grant Dawson vs. Nurullo Aliev
- Nikita Krylov vs. Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev
- Abus Magomedov vs. Cam Rowston
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