Volkanovski stops unbeaten Evloev in round two to retain UFC featherweight title at UFC 333
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Event | UFC 333: Volkanovski vs. Evloev |
| Date | Saturday, October 24, 2026 |
| Venue | Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi |
| Main event | Alexander Volkanovski (c) def. Movsar Evloev, TKO (ground and pound), round 2, 4:54 |
| Co-main | Petr Yan (c) def. Merab Dvalishvili, unanimous decision (48-47 ×3) |
| Next | UFC 334, Nov 14, Madison Square Garden |
Alexander Volkanovski did what nobody had done in Movsar Evloev’s professional career: he finished him. The 38-year-old featherweight champion stopped the previously unbeaten challenger with ground and pound six seconds before the end of the second round at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.
Evloev arrived 20-0 and a slight betting favorite, with a wrestling game many expected to cause Volkanovski problems over five rounds. Instead the fight never reached the championship rounds. It was Volkanovski’s second successful defense since he regained the title from Diego Lopes in April 2025, after beating Lopes again at UFC 325 in February.
Yan keeps the bantamweight title
In the co-main event Petr Yan beat Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision, 48-47 on all three cards, in the third fight between them. Dvalishvili won their first meeting in 2023; Yan has now won the last two, including the fight that gave him the title back at UFC 323 in December 2025.
Main card results
| Bout | Result | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Featherweight title | Alexander Volkanovski def. Movsar Evloev | TKO, R2 4:54 |
| Bantamweight title | Petr Yan def. Merab Dvalishvili | UD (48-47 ×3) |
| Flyweight | Lone'er Kavanagh def. Ramazan Temirov | TKO, R1 4:28 |
| Heavyweight | Alexander Volkov def. Rizvan Kuniev | UD (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) |
| Featherweight | Aaron Pico def. Losene Keita | TKO, R1 1:14 |
The full card, including the prelims, is on our UFC 333 results page, and every featherweight champion is on our UFC featherweight title history.
Our take
This is one of the best wins of Volkanovski’s career. He was supposed to be the champion running out of time against a younger, undefeated wrestler, and he finished him instead.
The featherweight division now has no obvious next challenger. A third fight with Diego Lopes makes little sense after two Volkanovski wins, which leaves the winner of the next top-five fight or a superfight as the realistic options.
Yan–Dvalishvili was close enough on the cards that a fourth fight would not be a surprise, but Yan has earned a new challenger first.