What an event lies ahead of us. UFC 333 easily has two spectacular title fights on schedule, and the wait for it to kick off is almost unbearable. It’s been a while since we’ve had 2 major title fights at one event. Featherweight and bantamweight divisions are bringing out their best. Heavy machinery will be out in full force when Alexander Volkanovski takes on his challenger in Mosvar Evloev, and when Petr Yan faces Merab Davlishvili for the third time in their bout.
UFC 333 is scheduled for October 24th, with the location being Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. While we’re going to focus on the two title bouts in this article, the rest of the card is also quite amazing, and MMA fans will have a day to enjoy themselves during the next weekend. In addition to Volk vs. Evloev and Yan vs. The Machine, we will also witness Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Ramazan Temirov, Alexander Volkov vs. Rizvan Kuniev, Arnold Allen vs. Aaron Pico, Dominick Reyes vs. Azamat Murzakanov, Nikita Krylov vs. Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev, Abus Magomedov vs. Cam Rowston, and Grant Dawson vs. Nurullo Aliev. If you plan to bet on UFC 333, this is a good moment to check out the odds. As for us, let’s focus on the title bouts ahead.
Main Event: Volkanovski vs. Evloev
As far as featherweight division goes, Alexander Volkanovski is right up there with the best of the best. The first time he put the belt around his waist was in 2019 when he took it from Max Holloway. After getting a taste of the title, he was not keen on letting it go. Volk made 4 consecutive title defences, and defended it three times. His amazing run was stopped by none other than Ilia Topuria. In between his feather weight bouts, Alex had outings to lightweight, where he faced off Islam Makhachev twice, and lost both fights. After those defeats, it was clear that Volkanovski belongs to the featherweight, and while he lost to Topuria, he is back to winning ways after defeating Diego Lopes, and now faces a big test is Movsar Evloev.
When we say a big test, we mean it. While Volk has an impressive MMA record of 28-4 with 15 wins and 3 losses in UFC, Evloev is slightly above him. As of now, he is one of the rare undefeated title challengers in the entire company. Movsar has an 20-0 record and he will be looking to build on it some more vs. the legendary Australian fighter. What’s interesting is that the Russian fighter joined the UFC the year that Volkanovski won his first belt. Today, he is only a few days away from challenging him for that same belt.
While Evloev has some good bouts under his belt including wins against Lerone Murphy, Aljamain Sterling and Arnold Allen his standing among the fans and UFCs top brass is not all that high despite his record. What’s usually taken against him is his ability, or lack of it, to finish matches, as he has no finishes in the UFC due to his really poor finishing ability. Despite that, and the fact that Volkanovski is the defending champion, the odds clearly state that there’s no clear favourite to win this one. What gives Alex the edge here is his finishing and experience. Evloev will have to rely on his stamina, toughness, and grappling. Volk has his odds set at 1.87 at the moment, while Evloev is trailing just a bit with 1.90 odds.
Those close to the sport, and we’re talking both fans and pundits, believe in Volk, and see him as a superior fighter. Many go as far as believing that this will be a lopsided bout ending in an early TKO, happening as early as in the third round. This belief comes from the fact that in reality Volk is a much better striker than Evloev. When you know that Movsar is not able to finish an opponent, and that Volk held his own against Islam, believing in this title bout ending in KO/TKO gets much more realistic. At the end of the day, Volkanovski has much more experience in this type of fights compared to Movsar, and that could prove to be vital this time around. Yet, one is not to forget that this is a young man’s sport. Movsar is younger, while Volk is close to the end of the road. It is never a good sign when a fighter speaks of retirement leading up to a title bout, and Volk just did that a few days ago. Movsar is undefeated, and he has managed to remain so for almost 8 years that he has been in the MMA, and many good fighters stood against him and lost. For us, he has all the tools to remain undefeated once more, which means Evloev by Unanimous Decision.
Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili
Now here’s a fight that carries a lot of history. A trilogy in the making has a lot of tension leading up to it. Last time around at UFC 323 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, it was Petr Yan who took home the crown and stood on the path of Merab Dvalishvili of making history. Before that, the two men faced off in march of 2023 when Merab was better on the day. We’re far removed from that bout, but the last one, which occurred last December, The Machine was not the better fighter. Petr Yan was better in wrestling and striking, and all in all showed more fighting class. Not only did Yan win, he also stopped Merab from making history. Defending a title four times in a calendar year would be a legendary achievement, and now you can bet the Georgian fighter is on a path of revenge for last year’s loss.
UFC and MMA in general are unique in this domain, as champions do not fight all that often. Only Kamaru Usman and Alex Pereira defended their titles three times in a span of a year since 2013. As if not having this record, Merab was on the brink of tying Usman for 15 consecutive wins in UFC. All of that is in the past now, and Merab has a chance to get back to winning ways. With all of us knowing that a third bout was on the way, sports betting outlets have immediately put out the odds for the bout that was not scheduled yet. A few months ago UFC betting odds had Merab as the favourite to win the rematch with 1.67 odds while Petr Yan opened with 2.30 odds. Plenty has changed leading up to this bout.
Before we move onto the odds for this bout, let’s see what’s on the line here. Of course, there’s the belt, but above that, it’s all about prestige. This bout could determine the best bantamweight fighter of all time. These two men fought for ten rounds and we still do not have a clear winner. At UFC 333 this rivalry is going to reach its peak. For all of you who remember, Dvalishvili was the more dominant fighter in 2023. All of that changed when Yan came back in 2025 with an answer to Merab’s wrestling and won by unanimous decision.
As far as UFC 333 goes, Petr Yan is entering the bout as the reigning champion and a favourite with his odds being set at 1.58. It’s been a while since Merab was the underdog in any of his bouts, and yet here we are. He finds himself in this situation due to everything that transpired last time they have fought. Yan showed to the world that The Machine can be stopped and that there’s a cure to his impeccable wrestling. Not only did the Russian fighter manage to disrupt Merab’s wrestling, he also was very effective in landing his strikes.
Merab became a household name in UFC due to his ability to be restless when attempting takedowns, hence the nickname. His pace was otherworldly, and it’s long been believed that he cannot be defeated. Yan entered their previous fight with some serious defensive adjustments, and made the matchup hell for Merab. In the post match interview, Yan singled out his preparation: “I was cold blooded, cold headed, and warm hearted. Everything worked. The jab worked, the takedown worked, and I didn’t let him take me down. The preparation really worked.” The gameplan was simple: Avoid takedowns and punish Dvalishvili for every miss. Merab’s modus operandi has always been to pile on wrestling attempts, and to win by sustaining that pressure as long as it takes. Despite Yan finding an answer to this, Merab remains positive about his chances in the upcoming bout.
During the couple past weeks, media was all over this bout, and the fighters had their say on the fight. Merab Dvalishvili exclusive interview with Stake is filled with his thoughts about what lies ahead and how he spent the months leading up to the fight. If you didn’t know, Merab is an ambassador for online casino san sportsbook, Stake, which is also UFCs official betting partner.
As you can guess, one of the first questions was about his preparation, and how he feels fighting the same opponent for the third time. Talking about it, Merab said: “Training camp is great, I feel good, everything is going good. I’m ready to go, can’t wait to fight. Fighting against Petr Yan is hard but I’ve had good preparation and trained super hard. I’ve fought him two times already, but this is another fight. He is the best in the world now and I’m preparing very well.” Despite a lot of passion needed to endure in this sport, Merab remains cold headed and full of respect, even admitting that by all means it’s Yan who’s now at the top of the world.
Last year, Merab was attempting to write history by defending his title four times. While he may have failed at defending the title, he did fight four times during one year. Now, it’s been almost a year since his last bout, which is almost unprecedented for The Machine. As you can guess he was asked about the lengthy rest to which Dvalishvili answered in his manner: “I was ready to fight in March again, I was hoping because I know they tell us our fight won’t be in the White House in June and I will fight before that. Did I need a rest? No, but I have enjoyed the time off and I guess the time off has been good because I’ve had more time to realise what I need to do in my next fight against Yan.”
With the two fighters wrapping up the final details of their upcoming bout, for many fans the fight will be seen through the sports betting side of the sport. Petr Yan remains the favourite, and that’s no secret. Yet, Stake has decided to back one of their biggest ambassadors. If you want to bet on Merab, you need to check their promotion which is called Merab’s 5th to 5.0. This promotion is doing a massive favour to everyone who believes that Merab is going to win this bout, as his odds are boosted to 5.00. Just remember, all users may only place one Pre Match, Single bet per Odds Boost selection. So, the boost is great, and you know where to find it, just follow the provider’s rules.
While all eyes of the fighting world are now on UFC 333 and Yan. vs. Merab trilogy, the Georgian fighter has his sights set on fights that might follow up. Talking about what’s next he said: “Yes It’s easy to say it now, but god willing when I win against Petr I will fight Song Yadong next. We’ve never fought each other and he’s the next best I think, we all know he has knockout power. It’ll be a great fight, a risky and challenging one but I’m ready for it.”