1 hr. ago
UFC 333's headlining fights are set with a long-awaited matchup between Alexander Volkanovski and Movsar Evloev, and Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili settling the score in a trilogy bout.
The UFC officially announced the fights during Saturday's UFC 330 broadcast, with Volkanovski's featherweight ***** le defense against Evloev being marked as the main event for the Oct. 24 event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Volkanovski (28-4) seeks the second successful defense of his second reign, while Evloev finally gets his championship opportunity after going 20-0 in his pro career.
Yan (20-5) delivered arguably the best performance of 2025 when he defeated Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323 to reclaim the bantamweight ***** le, snap Dvalishvili's 14-fight win streak, and avenge a loss from their first meeting in 2023. "No Mercy" has now won four straight fights following a career-worst three-fight skid and looks to put the stamp on his rivalry with Dvalishvili.
For Dvalishvili (21-5), he is coming off of a well-deserved layoff after successfully defending his belt three times in 2025 before Yan foiled his attempt to become the first UFC fighter to record four successful defenses in a calendar year. Prior to that loss, Dvalishvili's seven-year unbeaten streak included victories over Yan, Jose Aldo, Sean O'Malley, Henry Cejudo, Umar Nurmagomedov, and Cory Sandhagen, among others.
All four headlining fighters hold spots in the MMA Fighting Pound-for-Pound Rankings, with Yan at 3, Volkanovski at 5 (tied with Tom Aspinall and Ilia Topuria), Dvalishvili at 8 (tied with Sean Strickland) and Evloev at 19.
#dvalishvili
The UFC officially announced the fights during Saturday's UFC 330 broadcast, with Volkanovski's featherweight ***** le defense against Evloev being marked as the main event for the Oct. 24 event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Volkanovski (28-4) seeks the second successful defense of his second reign, while Evloev finally gets his championship opportunity after going 20-0 in his pro career.
Yan (20-5) delivered arguably the best performance of 2025 when he defeated Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323 to reclaim the bantamweight ***** le, snap Dvalishvili's 14-fight win streak, and avenge a loss from their first meeting in 2023. "No Mercy" has now won four straight fights following a career-worst three-fight skid and looks to put the stamp on his rivalry with Dvalishvili.
For Dvalishvili (21-5), he is coming off of a well-deserved layoff after successfully defending his belt three times in 2025 before Yan foiled his attempt to become the first UFC fighter to record four successful defenses in a calendar year. Prior to that loss, Dvalishvili's seven-year unbeaten streak included victories over Yan, Jose Aldo, Sean O'Malley, Henry Cejudo, Umar Nurmagomedov, and Cory Sandhagen, among others.
All four headlining fighters hold spots in the MMA Fighting Pound-for-Pound Rankings, with Yan at 3, Volkanovski at 5 (tied with Tom Aspinall and Ilia Topuria), Dvalishvili at 8 (tied with Sean Strickland) and Evloev at 19.
#dvalishvili
1 hr. ago
Finally, Movsar Evloev has gotten his long-awaited shot at the UFC featherweight ******* le.
The undefeated Russian fighter is set to challenge champion Alexander Volkanovski in the main event of UFC 333 – which is set to go down on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. MMA Junkie confirmed the news with multiple sources following a report from Вестник ММА, and the UFC made it official during Saturday's UFC 330 broadcast.
This bout marks the second ******* le defense of Volkanovski's (28-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) second reign as UFC featherweight champion. Volkanovski initially held the belt from 2019 to 2023, becoming one of the greatest featherweights of all time. He lost the belt by KO to Ilia Topuria in 2024, and then recovered it when Topuria moved up to lightweight in a vacant ******* le fight against Diego Lopes in April 2025. Volkanovski went on to defend the belt this past February in a rematch against Lopes.
Evloev (20-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) has been pursuing the UFC ******* le for well over seven years. Despite being considered by many the No. 1 contender in the featherweight division for a couple of years now, Evloev has yet to get a crack at the ******* le. He's gone 20-0 in his professional MMA career, with half of those wins being under the UFC banner. In his last outing back in March, Evloev defeated Lerone Murphy in a majrity decision.
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev – for featherweight ******* le
#evloev #title #belt #alexander
The undefeated Russian fighter is set to challenge champion Alexander Volkanovski in the main event of UFC 333 – which is set to go down on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. MMA Junkie confirmed the news with multiple sources following a report from Вестник ММА, and the UFC made it official during Saturday's UFC 330 broadcast.
This bout marks the second ******* le defense of Volkanovski's (28-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) second reign as UFC featherweight champion. Volkanovski initially held the belt from 2019 to 2023, becoming one of the greatest featherweights of all time. He lost the belt by KO to Ilia Topuria in 2024, and then recovered it when Topuria moved up to lightweight in a vacant ******* le fight against Diego Lopes in April 2025. Volkanovski went on to defend the belt this past February in a rematch against Lopes.
Evloev (20-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) has been pursuing the UFC ******* le for well over seven years. Despite being considered by many the No. 1 contender in the featherweight division for a couple of years now, Evloev has yet to get a crack at the ******* le. He's gone 20-0 in his professional MMA career, with half of those wins being under the UFC banner. In his last outing back in March, Evloev defeated Lerone Murphy in a majrity decision.
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev – for featherweight ******* le
#evloev #title #belt #alexander
9 days ago
Alexander Volkanovski's next ***** le defense could be one of the worst-kept secrets in MMA.
The UFC featherweight champion awaits the second defense of his second ***** le reign following a second decision win over Diego Lopes at UFC 325 this past February. Undefeated contender Movsar Evloev is expected to get the call and Volkanovski is already preparing to face the Russian grappling specialist.
"It's not locked in, but it's pretty obvious it's probably going to be Movsar," Volkanovski said in a vlog. "So get all that wrestling in nice and early."
Injuries and a lack of signature finishes have hindered Evloev's No. 1 contender case, despite a spotless 20-0 record. He hasn't finished any of his 10 UFC opponents, but holds notable wins over Lerone Murphy, Aljamain Sterling, and Lopes, the latter of whom has received two ***** le fight opportunities.
Volkanovski has stated on multiple occasions he expects to fight Evloev and with numbered UFC events in October, November, and December still needing headlining bouts, the matchmakers have several opportunities to slot that championship matchup in before the end of the year.
#second
The UFC featherweight champion awaits the second defense of his second ***** le reign following a second decision win over Diego Lopes at UFC 325 this past February. Undefeated contender Movsar Evloev is expected to get the call and Volkanovski is already preparing to face the Russian grappling specialist.
"It's not locked in, but it's pretty obvious it's probably going to be Movsar," Volkanovski said in a vlog. "So get all that wrestling in nice and early."
Injuries and a lack of signature finishes have hindered Evloev's No. 1 contender case, despite a spotless 20-0 record. He hasn't finished any of his 10 UFC opponents, but holds notable wins over Lerone Murphy, Aljamain Sterling, and Lopes, the latter of whom has received two ***** le fight opportunities.
Volkanovski has stated on multiple occasions he expects to fight Evloev and with numbered UFC events in October, November, and December still needing headlining bouts, the matchmakers have several opportunities to slot that championship matchup in before the end of the year.
#second
11 days ago
TommyMcMillen claims AlexanderVolkanovski has no path to victory against him.
McMillen is currently one of the most hyped featherweight prospectson the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster. The undefeated28-year-old is high in confidence, as reflected in his recentcomments about the reigning champion in his division.
McMillen is open to fighting Volkanovski next for the right amountof money. "Gun" doesn't think the 37-year-old UFC featherweightchampion can beat him and the same goes for any other145-pounder.
"I'll take Volk. He's like 42 years old, he's 5'5", what's his pathto victory?" McMillen said on the One Night with Steiny podcast."He's gonna bang with me for five rounds? I've never even seen afourth or fifth round; those are gonna be my best rounds. If theUFC came to me and paid the right amount of money, yes, I'll gostep in there and fight anybody in the top 15, knowing I can win.There's not a man at 145 pounds that I don't look at and be like,'Oh, I know I can beat him.'"
McMillen (11-0) has earned $100k bonuses for both of his UFC winsso far. He also set the record for landing the most significantstrikes in a three-round UFC fight (513) in his recent win overAlbertoMontes. His contract-winning performance on Dana White's Contender Series remains his only bout that hasgone the distance.
Meanwhile, Volkanovski (28-4) defended the featherweight **** le fivetimes in his first **** le run before losing it to IliaTopuria in 2024. "The Great" has since won the vacant **** le anddefended it against DiegoLopes. While there's no official confirmation as yet, theAustralian has indicated that unbeaten contender MovsarEvloev is next in line for the belt.
#title #i 'll #contender #year
McMillen is currently one of the most hyped featherweight prospectson the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster. The undefeated28-year-old is high in confidence, as reflected in his recentcomments about the reigning champion in his division.
McMillen is open to fighting Volkanovski next for the right amountof money. "Gun" doesn't think the 37-year-old UFC featherweightchampion can beat him and the same goes for any other145-pounder.
"I'll take Volk. He's like 42 years old, he's 5'5", what's his pathto victory?" McMillen said on the One Night with Steiny podcast."He's gonna bang with me for five rounds? I've never even seen afourth or fifth round; those are gonna be my best rounds. If theUFC came to me and paid the right amount of money, yes, I'll gostep in there and fight anybody in the top 15, knowing I can win.There's not a man at 145 pounds that I don't look at and be like,'Oh, I know I can beat him.'"
McMillen (11-0) has earned $100k bonuses for both of his UFC winsso far. He also set the record for landing the most significantstrikes in a three-round UFC fight (513) in his recent win overAlbertoMontes. His contract-winning performance on Dana White's Contender Series remains his only bout that hasgone the distance.
Meanwhile, Volkanovski (28-4) defended the featherweight **** le fivetimes in his first **** le run before losing it to IliaTopuria in 2024. "The Great" has since won the vacant **** le anddefended it against DiegoLopes. While there's no official confirmation as yet, theAustralian has indicated that unbeaten contender MovsarEvloev is next in line for the belt.
#title #i 'll #contender #year
