Last night (Sat., Oct. 24, 2026), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for UFC 333. After several weeks of mediocrity, elite UFC fighting was BACK! Two title fights topped the card in two of the sport’s premier divisions, a pair of intriguing style clashes that would dictate the landscape for years to come … and maybe determine the Bantamweight GOAT? Rising stars and top veterans made up the rest of the card, setting the table for one of the year’s best events.
Let’s take a closer look at the best performances and highlight finishes of the evening:
Wrestler Denied
Alexander Volkanovski beat the crap out of Movsar Evloev.
Evloev started well enough. He didn’t force the wrestling but was able to nevertheless take down Volkanovski on several occasions. He struggled mightily to keep down “The Great,” however, and wasn’t able to land many shots throughout the wrestling process. Volkanovski didn’t come on too strong in the first, content to feint and get a sense of his opponent’s timing.
By round two, Volkanovski was firing on all cylinders. He pressed the Russian and started finding his jab. Now, Evloev was forced to wrestle, and his persistence landed him on bottom position. His explosion back to the feet was impressive, but it also required a lot of energy. Back on the feet, Volkanovski closed distance and sat down on his combinations, bashing Evloev upside the head repeatedly. Volkanovski’s boxing was so much more fluid, and he was able to walk down Evloev without fear of the return fire.
Evloev — undefeated and accustomed to being the man moving forward — looked deeply uncomfortable taking shots and being pressured. He was rocked quickly and crumbled afterward without much further resistance. Evloev may be an excellent Featherweight, but he’s not very good at being the nail.
Stylistically, this was a perfect matchup for “The Great,” and he absolutely capitalized!
A Trilogy Decided
Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili 3 was awesome.
The bout began with Dvalishvili correcting his errors from the rematch. He immediately attacked the low kick, which helped him present a triple threat from the right side: right overhand, lean right into the takedown, and right low kick. He mixed more kicks into his attack generally, and he did not at all wait before committing to his wrestling attack. Yan spent most of 10 minutes reactive, forced into that cycle of defensiveness in which Dvalishvili traps his opposition.
Yan, to his credit, flipped the switch in round three. Dvalishvili was definitely a little tired from his own inhuman pace, and those takedown attempts started to slow and become less threatening. As a result, Yan was more able to explode forward with his own combinations. Dvalishvili was still a little more active in terms of pure numbers, but Yan was landing with more venom.
The left kick to the body popped up again and left Dvalishvili grimacing.
The violence and domination never escalated to the levels of the rematch, but Yan was now in the driver’s seat. He was able to push forward and shuck off takedowns with ease, allowing him to confidently burst forward more often. Though Dvalishvili can walk through shots to the chin like few others, the damage still slowed him down and allowed Yan to keep building momentum.
Despite a valiant effort to steal back the final frame, “The Machine” was bested, and Yan remains atop the Bantamweight mountain.
Ramazan Temirov is a kill-or-be-killed fighter, and Lone’er Kavanagh damn near killed him.
After a patient start, Temirov started doing what he does best: winging overhand rights! He cracked Kavanagh at least once, but the young English striker wore the blow well and soon was ready to return fire. He sat down on a lead hand counter uppercut that nearly put Temirov on the floor, and Kavanagh didn’t hesitate to attack. He followed up with a beautiful combination that sent Temirov flying into the fence and floor, and a few more punches served as the coffin nail.
This was a risky fight for Kavanagh, who just recently went to war with Brandon Royval. His gamble paid off — this was a hell of a way to return to the win column!
Give Volkov His Title Shot
At 38 years of age, Alexander Volkov is better than ever.
The Russian striker should be riding an eight-fight win streak, and he’s beaten a lot of tough competition in the process — including, very arguably, the current champion! Even if you scored that controversial bout for Ciryl Gane, Volkov has now turned away two of the division’s top up-and-comers. He beat up Rizvan Kuniev, producing visible reactions with every toe stab to the belly or calf kick landed.
Don’t blame the 6’9” Heavyweight for fighting tall and maximizing his approach. He’s fighting really well and has more than earned his opportunity to face Gane or Josh Hokit next.
Pico Builds Momentum
Don’t look now, but Aaron Pico has won consecutive UFC fights.
Despite all the talent in the world, consistency and decision-making have long been the issues for Pico. Against Losene Keita, however, he fought one of the smartest fights of his career! Even if it only lasted a minute, his performance was really impressive. He kept the counter puncher off balance by mixing his takedowns and boxing masterfully, giving us a glimpse of the potential that’s always been apparent. All that up-and-down motion and slick feinting allowed Pico to land a beautiful right hand directly to the temple, putting Keita on wobbly legs. A flurry of short punches sealed the deal and scored Pico his best win yet.
Time for a Top 10 dance partner?
Flawless Victory
Dominick Reyes followed Paulo Costa’s blueprint to quickly take apart Azamat Murzakanov.
Murzakanov is a sharp boxer, but he’s small for the division and has to close range. While Costa, an orthodox fighter, hammered Murzakanov at distance with right kicks to the head and body, Reyes is a leftie. As such, he just switched his weapon of choice to the left calf kick. Murzakanov was immediately hampered by the blow and quickly grew desperate to push forward into the pocket.
After a clean high kick, he ran directly into Reyes’ best punch, the counter left hand. After a 16-0 start, Murzakanov has lost two fights in a row via violent knockout. As such, it might be time for that overdue move down to Middleweight, where Murzakanov wouldn’t be giving away so much range.
Additional Thoughts
- Abdul Rakhman Yakyhaev defeats Nikita Krylov via first-round knockout (highlights): As a long time “Miner” fan, it brings me no joy to admit the formerly Top 10 Russian is washed. His standup threat has declined, and his wrestling isn’t so relentless nowadays. Krylov chose to engage in the clinch, wound up reversed, and left his face wide open for a nasty knee while trying to build height along the fence — brutal. He’s now lost four of his last five via knockout, and his roster position isn’t looking secure.
- Abus Magomedov defeats Cam Rowston via first-round guillotine(highlights): Magomedov is one of the best first-round fighters on the roster, and his experience was too much for Rowston. Despite all his kickboxing experience, Rowston looked immediately uncomfortable with Magomedov’s early speed and timing. As a result, he took a questionable shot and landed right in the guillotine choke, which Magomedov expertly finished by wrangling a trapped arm with his legs. As a result, he was able to adjust his grip and apply the squeeze while Rowston struggled to create motion. After nine UFC bouts, Magomedov’s only UFC losses came against Sean Strickland, Caio Borralho, and Joe Pyfer — the guy is pretty good!
- Kody Steele defeats Noah Gugnon via first-round knockout (highlights): Steele picked up the first knockout win of his UFC career in impressive fashion. Gugnon tried to push forward and bully his opponent with big swings, but Steele kept his composure well and showed off good defense in dodging several right hands. His own offerings were tighter and more accurate, and then Steele got really comfortable in the pocket. He started pushing the pace and hitting the body, soon connecting on a right hand that collapsed his opponent.