UFC 333 Preview: Volkanovski, Yan, and Dvalishvili Headline Abu Dhabi Event

From the source SInow#273 in United States10/23/2026 5:57 AM2 min read

UFC 333 takes place in Abu Dhabi, UAE, featuring Alexander Volkanovski defending his featherweight title against Movsar Evloev, Petr Yan facing Merab Dvalishvili in a bantamweight title trilogy bout, and key matchups in lightweight and heavyweight divisions.

It’s nearly time for UFC 333, and now all that’s left before the event is the ceremonial weigh-ins and accompanying final fighter face offs. , the UFC is in Abu Dhabi, UAE this week for one of the more highly-anticipated fight cards of the entire year.

The main event will see Alexander Volkovanksi bid for the second title defense of his second featherweight title reign , and in the co-main event Petr Yan kicks off his second stint bantamweight as champion with a trilogy bout against MerabNow 38 years old, Volkanovski defended the featherweight belt on five occasionsMovsar Evloev fights Lerone Murphy during UFC Fight Night at O2 Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect A long-awaited title shot for Evloev finally arrives after 10 victories in the UFC, the most recent of which came against the formerly-unbeaten Lerone Murphy at UFC London in March.

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Yan had to wait nearly three years to get another crack at Dvalishvili after falling short in their first meeting, but a rematch at UFC 323 saw “No Mercy” reclaim the UFC bantamweight belt and extend his current win streak to four fights. Merab Dvalishvili fights Petr Yan during UFC 323 at T-Mobile Arena.

| IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect, but the Georgian will be able to kick off a second reign as champion if he’s able to unseat Yan in their trilogy bout. The other three fights on the UFC 333 main card also carry massive stakes for several UFC divisions, and the main card action opens in the lightweight divisionLosene Keita fights Muhammad Naimov during UFC Fight Night at Accor Arena.

| IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect At heavyweight, Alexander Volkov and Rizvan Kuniev will both try to put themselves in line to challenge the winner ofAlexander Volkov fights Waldo Cortes Acosta during UFC 328 at Prudential Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Ramazan Temirov and Lone’er Kavanagh will also each look to move closer towards a title shot when they meet in a huge flyweight matchup that will take place immediately before Yan and Dvalishvili throw down in the co-main event.

The ceremonial weigh-ins for UFC 333 scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. ET, and you check out a live stream of all the proceedings below. Be sure to check back with MMA Knockout tomorrow for more coverage of UFC 333 including live results and highlights from all the action once the 14-fight card kicks off in Abu Dhabi.

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