The UFC 333 results are official from Saturday, October 24, 2026 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, and both champions kept their belts. Alexander Volkanovski stopped the previously unbeaten Movsar Evloev by TKO at 4:54 of the second round to retain the featherweight title, and Petr Yan defeated Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision, 48-47 on all three scorecards, to retain the bantamweight title and close their trilogy. This recap covers a card that finished four days ago, and the results have reshaped two divisions.
Volkanovski entered the main event at 38 years old, facing a 20-0 challenger whose wrestling was supposed to be the problem no champion had solved. Evloev did take the champion down three times in the opening round. Each time, Volkanovski was quickly back to his feet, and that single detail decided the fight before the finish arrived: if the takedowns could not hold him, the challenger had to win a striking fight against one of the most accurate volume punchers in the sport.
UFC 333 results: the main event finish
The second round turned sharply. Volkanovski reversed a takedown into top position, then rocked Evloev standing with a left hook and followed with heavy right hands and a sustained combination. Evloev turned away and retreated to his back, and Volkanovski finished with ground and pound until referee Marc Goddard stepped in at 4:54 of the round. The win improved Volkanovski to 29-4, handed Evloev the first loss of his professional career at 20-1, and was the champion’s first finish since his 2023 win over Yair Rodriguez.
The historical line matters too. It was Volkanovski’s ninth victory in UFC featherweight title fights, passing Jose Aldo for the most in division history, and his second straight title defence on a three fight win streak. At an age when most featherweights are managing decline, he is still adding records, and the post fight conversation immediately turned to fresh challengers or another move up to lightweight.
Alexander Volkanovski dropped Movsar Evloev with a clean left in Round 2 and pounced on the opportunity to secure a second round TKO in the main event.
Yan closes the trilogy in the co-main event
The bantamweight title fight delivered the card’s drama. Yan lost the first two rounds on all three judges’ scorecards, then stormed back in the third and took each of the final rounds on every card to win 48-47 three times. It was the 20th trilogy in UFC history, and Yan’s comeback settled it 2-1 in his favour while earning Fight of the Night honours. Winning a title fight after dropping the first two rounds requires both a corner that reads the fight correctly and a champion willing to change the terms mid fight, and Yan did both.
The rest of the main card and prelims
The finishes kept coming underneath the title fights. Lone’er Kavanagh stopped Ramazan Temirov by TKO at 4:28 of the first round, Aaron Pico stopped Losene Keita by TKO at 1:14 of the first, and Alexander Volkov took a unanimous decision over Rizvan Kuniev by scores of 29-28 and 30-27 twice. On the prelims, Dominick Reyes knocked out Azamat Murzakanov at 2:40 of the first round, Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev stopped Nikita Krylov by TKO at 2:38 of the first, and Abus Magomedov submitted Cam Rowston with a guillotine choke at 1:44 of the first. In total the fourteen bout card produced seven finishes.
Read together, the UFC 333 results point in one direction for both divisions. Featherweight still runs through a 38 year old champion who just finished the undefeated contender the division saved for him, and bantamweight has a settled trilogy and a champion who proved he can win from behind. The next matchmaking questions, from Aljamain Sterling’s position at featherweight to Sean O’Malley’s case at bantamweight, all start from what happened in Abu Dhabi on October 24.
The bonuses underlined the same story. Volkanovski took a Performance of the Night award for the finish, while Yan and Dvalishvili shared Fight of the Night for a trilogy closer that swung on championship rounds. Cards in Abu Dhabi run on an early North American clock, with the main card starting at 2 p.m. Eastern, and UFC 333 rewarded everyone who tuned in early: two title fights, seven finishes and a heavyweight picture that Volkov’s decision win quietly rearranged behind the champions.
For Canadian viewers the card also set the table for the rest of the numbered schedule. UFC 334 follows on November 14 in New York and UFC 335 closes the year on December 12 in Las Vegas, and the contender conversations coming out of Abu Dhabi, from featherweight’s next challenger to the bantamweight line behind Yan, will run straight into both of those nights.
