UFC 333 preview: Volkanovski vs Evloev and the Yan vs Dvalishvili trilogy in Abu Dhabi

UFC 333 takes place on Saturday, October 24, at Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The card has two title fights. Alexander Volkanovski defends the featherweight belt against Movsar Evloev in the main event, and bantamweight champion Petr Yan faces Merab Dvalishvili in the co-main event.

Volkanovski vs Evloev

Volkanovski (28-4) won the vacant title against Diego Lopes at UFC 314 in April 2025 and beat Lopes again at UFC 325 in February 2026. Both fights went the distance and both earned Fight of the Night. Before that run he had lost twice by knockout, to Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria.

Evloev is 20-0. He earned the shot in London in March 2026, beating Lerone Murphy by majority decision (48-46, 48-46, 47-47). Before that he outpointed Aljamain Sterling at UFC 310 and Arnold Allen at UFC 297. No one in the UFC has beaten him yet; the question is whether his wrestling can hold up over five rounds against the champion.

Yan vs Dvalishvili 3

The series is 1-1. Dvalishvili won the first fight by unanimous decision in March 2023. Yan took the title from him at UFC 323 in December 2025, also by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47), and ended Dvalishvili's run of 14 straight wins. This is Yan's first defence.

Main card

• Alexander Volkanovski vs Movsar Evloev, featherweight title
• Petr Yan vs Merab Dvalishvili, bantamweight title
• Lone’er Kavanagh vs Ramazan Temirov, flyweight
• Alexander Volkov vs Rizvan Kuniev, heavyweight
• Aaron Pico vs Losene Keita, featherweight

Keita replaced Arnold Allen, who withdrew with an injury. The preliminary card includes Azamat Murzakanov vs Dominick Reyes and Nikita Krylov vs Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev at light heavyweight.

Start time

The main card starts at 10 p.m. in Abu Dhabi (2 p.m. ET), the prelims at 8 p.m. local time (noon ET).