UFC333 was held at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It was the 24th visit the UFC has made to Abu Dhabi and the 11th premium event there, following UFC321 in October 2025.
It was also another major event where two titles were on the line, and the fight between Petr Yan and Marab Dvalishvili was the 19th trilogy fight in the UFC.
There were 14 fights on the card, 7 ended in stoppages including one submission, with 7 going the distance, including one split decision.
TOP PERFORMANCE: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI
In his second stint as the defending featherweight champion, Volkanovski is slowly moving his way up the all-time pound-for-pound list, with a seventh title defence as he continues to defy the odds and excel.
Movsar Evloev came into this title fight unbeaten in his MMA career and a UFC record of 10-0. His exceptional wrestling ability was what everyone thought gave him the upper hand against Volkanovski and where the fight could be won.
But Volkanovski used his experience and skill to avoid an early wrestling crisis in the first round, that simultaneously gave him confidence and shook Evloev. Which showed in the second round as Volkanovski dominated and surprisingly stopped him with ease.
TOP PERFORMANCE 2: LONE’ER KAVANAGH
The Londoner and Dana White contender series alum lit up the Etihad Arena with a stunning first-round KO of Ramazan Temirov, who was previously unbeaten in his first three UFC fights.
Kavanagh was coming off a stoppage defeat to Brandon Royval in a fight of the night battle in July. That made it two defeats in his last four, so fighting an unbeaten fighter ramped up the pressure for this fight.
However, he showed no nerves and pushed the fight from the first bell and throughout the round. He got his rewards in the final minute as he connected with a superb, lead upper cut to stumble Temirov, and finished with a few follow-up punches for an excellent win.
TOP PERFORMANCE 3: AARON PICO
After a devastating first-round KO loss in his UFC debut, Pico is now starting to show why the UFC signed him. His second victory in a row made light work of a tough and confident opponent, although Losene Keita was a late replacement.
Pico had to brush off the disappointment of not facing Arnold Allen due to injury to fight Keita, who was coming off a massive KO victory just six weeks ago. However, Pico showed his quality and all-around skill to win the fight in just over a minute.
It started with a smart takedown to get Keita thinking, then he connected with a sharp, accurate right hand that rocked Keita, sending him to the canvas. Pico never allowed him to recover as he finished the fight with Keita face down, taking punches to the head.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Petr Yan defended his bantamweight title in the trilogy against Marab Dvashvilli. Despite what some may say, including myself who thought it was very close, he was clearly down the first two rounds; the third was the controversial won which split opinion, but he showed true champion mentality to clearly win the last two rounds and defend his title.
Dominick Reyes got his fifth win in his last six, following a devastating first-round KO of number seven-ranked Azamat Murzakanov. Reyes rocked his opponent with a head kick that made him fall; he got up in an instant to drop Murzakanov with a straight left and finished the fight with a few more punches on the ground.
Abusupiyan Magomedov destroyed Cameron Rowston, who was on a three-fight winning streak. It starting with several hard calf kicks to trouble Rawston, forcing him to go in for a takedown. This allowed Magomedov to lock in a tight guillotine, he even had time to flex for the cameras, while putting Rowston out for a thrilling first-round win.
