Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili prepare for trilogy fight at UFC 333

Champions Alexander Volkanovski and Petr Yan defend their titles at UFC 333

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 01: Alexander Volkanovski of Australia prepares to face Diego Lopes of Brazil in the UFC featherweight championship fight during the UFC 325 event at Qudos Bank Arena on February 01, 2026 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) 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 title 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 title, 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. Other main card bouts announced for the event include Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Ramazan Temirov, Alexander Volkov vs. Rizvan Kuniev, and Arnold Allen vs. Aaron Pico. Several preliminary bouts are also now official, Dominick Reyes vs. Azamat Murzakanov, Abus Magomedov vs. Cam Rowston, Nikita Krylov vs. Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev, and Grant Dawson vs. Nurullo Aliev. UFC 333 takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 24.

The rubber match between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili will unfold in the UFC 333 co-main event.

A featherweight championship bout pitting Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev is set to headline UFC 333.

Yan and Dvalishvili complete their trilogy before Volkanovski faces a great threat to his featherweight title