UFC 333: Volkanovski vs. Evloev Preview: Full Fight Card Breakdown

Abu Dhabi gets two title fights when UFC 333 lands at the Etihad Arena on October 24. Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski defends his belt against undefeated contender Movsar Evloev, and bantamweight champion Petr Yan faces Merab Dvalishvili in a high-stakes trilogy that could define a generation of 135-pound competition. This is one of the better-built numbered cards of the year.

Full Fight Card

Fight	Weight Class	Card Section
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev	Featherweight	Main Card
Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili	Bantamweight	Main Card
Lone'er Kavanagh vs. Ramazan Temirov	Flyweight	Main Card
Alexander Volkov vs. Rizvan Kuniev	Heavyweight	Main Card
Aaron Pico vs. Losene Keita	Featherweight	Main Card
Azamat Murzakanov vs. Dominick Reyes	Light Heavyweight	Preliminary Card
Nikita Krylov vs. Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev	Light Heavyweight	Preliminary Card
Abusupiyan Magomedov vs. Cameron Rowston	Middleweight	Preliminary Card
Grant Dawson vs. Nurullo Aliev	Lightweight	Preliminary Card
Jacob Malkoun vs. Abubakar Vagaev	Middleweight	Early Preliminary Card
Colby Thicknesse vs. Asaf Chopurov	Bantamweight	Early Preliminary Card
Bolaji Oki vs. Daniel Santos	Featherweight	Announced
Iasmin Lucindo vs. Nicolle Caliari	Strawweight	Announced
Kody Steele vs. Noah Gugnon	Lightweight	Announced

Main Event: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev — Featherweight Title

Volkanovski is writing one of the better comeback arcs in recent UFC history. He lost the featherweight title to Ilia Topuria in February 2024, reclaimed it when Topuria moved to lightweight and left a vacancy that Volkanovski filled by beating Diego Lopes, then defended it against Lopes again in a rematch. Now he faces the only undefeated top contender left in the featherweight division.

Evloev earned this shot in one of the harder ways possible — by flying into Lerone Murphy's home crowd at London's O2 Arena and taking a majority decision. A point came off the board for low blows in the fourth round, but Evloev had built enough of a lead that it did not matter. At 20-0, he has never lost a professional fight. His record at 10-0 in the UFC is equally clean.

The stylistic problem Volkanovski poses is well-documented: he is technically precise on the feet, harder to take down than he looks, and brutally consistent over five rounds. Evloev is a Dagestani-trained wrestler who adds clean combinations, but his résumé at the championship level is untested. The champion has said publicly that he expects a finish and plans to keep the fight standing where his technical edge is most pronounced. Evloev's camp disagrees with that assessment and believes their man has been underestimated as a striker.

Co-Main Event: Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili — Bantamweight Title Trilogy

This fight is about settling a rivalry that has been building since 2023.

Dvalishvili won the first bout that year by unanimous decision, deploying relentless wrestling and pace to earn the win. Yan responded in December 2025 at UFC 323, cutting off the cage, landing sharper combinations, and taking the belt with a performance that silenced doubters. That result made a third fight inevitable.

Yan enters as the defending champion and slight betting favorite. Dvalishvili has said he will bring something different, though his identity as a fighter — pressure, volume, elite wrestling — does not change fight to fight. What Yan demonstrated in the rematch was that those attributes can be neutralized over 25 minutes with the right game plan. The open question is whether he can replicate that blueprint with Dvalishvili having months to study it. The GOAT argument at bantamweight, for this generation, effectively hinges on who wins this third fight.

Notable Bout: Aaron Pico vs. Losene Keita — Featherweight

This is a fight that could finish early and is worth keeping an eye on.

Pico was originally booked against Arnold Allen, a recognized top-ten featherweight who had to withdraw. Losene Keita stepped in. The Belgian is a former dual-weight OKTAGON champion who arrived in the UFC with a split-decision loss to Nathaniel Wood in his debut, then bounced back by knocking out Muhammad Naimov in Paris for a Performance of the Night finish. Pico himself has flagged Keita's power as his most dangerous quality.

Pico's UFC run has also been a bounce-back story. A violent spinning back elbow from Lerone Murphy ended his debut before he could show much. He answered by taking and finishing Patricio Freire in April 2026. Pico has always carried stoppage threat, and this matchup against a fellow power puncher should produce action from the opening minute.

Also Watch: Alexander Volkov vs. Rizvan Kuniev — Heavyweight

Heavyweights at any position on the card deserve attention because the weight class runs on sudden conclusions. Volkov is a veteran with knockout wins over notable opponents and a technical kickboxing game that has served him across a long UFC career. Kuniev is a step up in competition and a potential statement opportunity. A single clean exchange can end a heavyweight bout without warning, which makes this one worth keeping in the mix.