*Alexander Volkanovski stuns Diego Lopes with a vicious right hook. Credit: MMA Fighting.*

The UFC heads to the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE, for an outstanding card. From start to finish, the card features top-ranked matchups, rising prospects, and talented veterans, all looking to put on a show this weekend. In the co-main event, we’ll see the long-awaited trilogy bout between two legendary Bantamweights, former champion Merab Dvalishvili and current titleholder Petr Yan. In the main event, renowned Featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski squares off against #1-ranked contender Movsar Evloev. Let’s take a look at the fights on the main card.

Aaron Pico vs. Losene Keita

*Aaron Pico blasts Patrício Pitbull with a thudding left hook. Credit: MMA Fighting.*

Featherweight Bout

Aaron Pico: 14-5-0, 9 KO/TKO, 2 Sub.

Losene Keita: 17-2-0, 11 KO/TKO, 0 Sub.

Pico has won four of his last five fights and has a UFC victory over Patrício Pitbull (38-9-0). He’s a dangerous wrestler with serious punching power, always hunting for a finish. He pushes a heavy pace from the opening bell, coming forward and forcing his opponent to the outside, where he can control the center. Pico has one-shot knockout power, throwing everything with impressive speed and favoring power over volume. Training at Jackson-Wink MMA, he will pursue takedowns early, typically securing them quickly, but is willing to work along the fence and string together attempts to bring the fight to the mat. He has excellent top pressure and heavy ground-and-pound, constantly looking to posture up and do damage from the top. Pico has secured seven of his eleven finishes in the first round and is highly dangerous early on.

*Losene Keita cracks Muhammad Naimov with a stunning right hand. Credit: MMA Junkie.*

Keita has won four of his last five bouts and holds a UFC win over Muhammad Naimov (13-5-0). He’s an excellent technical striker with serious power in his hands. He’s in perpetual motion, always moving and feinting with a karate-style bounce in his step. Keita favors power over volume and throws everything with knockout intent, maintaining his power throughout the fight and remaining dangerous at all times. He’s highly explosive and won’t telegraph his strikes, regularly unloading heavy, looping punches and particularly vicious body shots. Training at Lamiro Fight Club, he heats up as the fight continues, typically increasing his pace and output, but he always stays technical, never getting sloppy or telegraphing his strikes. Keita can produce a knockout at any time, and he has nearly an even split, with six first-round KOs and 5 knockouts in rounds 2 to 4.

#4 Alexander Volkov vs. #5 Rizvan Kuniev

*Alexander Volkov staggers Waldo Cortes-Acosta with a powerful left hook. Credit: MMA Fighting.*

Heavyweight Bout

Alexander Volkov: 40-11-0, 24 KO/KO, 4 Sub.

Rizvan Kuniev: 14-3-1, 7 KO/TKO, 2 Sub.

Volkov has won four of his last five outings and holds UFC victories over #2-ranked Heavyweight Sergei Pavlovich (21-3-0), #8-ranked Heavyweight Waldo Cortes-Acosta (17-4-0), and Marcin Tybura (27-12-0). He is a lengthy, technical kickboxer with solid power and great cardio. He floats along the outside of the cage, landing heavy kicks from range before coming forward to unload combinations. Volkov uses his size well, keeping opponents on the end of his shots and consistently catching them with heavy, straight punches as they enter his range. He’s a patient, precise striker, favoring power over volume and waiting for openings to land big shots rather than charging into the pocket. Training at the Global Fight Gym, he’s strong in the clinch and has great takedown defense. Volkov rarely takes much damage and has outlanded fourteen of his nineteen UFC opponents.

*Rizvan Kuniev lands a vicious knee to the face of Tyrell Fortune. Credit: MMA Mania.*

Kuniev has won three of his last five fights, with one no contest, and has UFC wins over Tyrell Fortune (18-4-0) and Jailton Almeida (22-6-0). He’s a powerful scrapper who constantly looks to land power shots and wear down his opponent. He has excellent clinch striking and relentlessly pressures his opponents to close the distance, clinch up, and batter them with heavy punches, knees, and elbows. Training at Atletica Sports, he has creative striking for a Heavyweight and often mixes in flashy attacks like spinning kicks and jumping knees. He won’t typically look to grapple, but he has solid wrestling skills and takedowns. He remains elusive and unpredictable at all times and, on average, lands nearly twice as many significant strikes per minute as he absorbs. Kuniev has secured the majority of his knockouts after round one and maintains a consistent pace across three rounds, carrying his power throughout.

#6 Lone’er Kavanagh vs. #7 Ramazan Temirov

*Lone’er Kavanagh lands a powerful spinning kick to the body of Brandon Moreno. Credit: MMA Mania.*

Flyweight Bout

Lone’er Kavanagh: 10-2-0, 4 KO/TKO, 1 Sub.

Ramazan Temirov: 20-3-0, 12 KO/TKO, 1 Sub.

Kavanagh has won three of his last five bouts and holds UFC victories over #10-ranked Flyweight Brandon Moreno (24-10-2), Jose Ochoa (9-2-0), and Felipe dos Santos (11-3-0). He’s a lifelong kickboxer with excellent technical striking and solid grappling. He’s very measured, picks his shots, and often draws his opponent into his range to land counterstrikes. Kavanagh is very quick and elusive, regularly darting into the pocket to land heavy strikes, then returning to range unscathed. Training at GB Top Team, he has strong takedowns, can land them in open space or in the clinch, and has solid takedown defense as well. He’s very aggressive in top position, focusing on posturing up and landing ground-and-pound rather than improving his position or securing a submission. Although very technical, Kavanagh is willing to hang inside the pocket and exchange blows and can be drawn into brawls.

*Ramazan Temirov catches Steve Erceg with a cracking left hook. Credit: MMA Mania.*

Temirov is on a twelve-fight win streak and holds UFC wins over #15-ranked Flyweight Charles Johnson (20-9-0), Steve Erceg (14-5-0), and CJ Vergara (12-7-1). He’s a wild, elusive striker who’s always moving and throwing bombs. He has great distance management and stays at range, avoiding damage before suddenly exploding forward to land heavy overhands. Temirov won’t typically throw long combinations, but he throws everything with devastating speed and power, regularly mixing in vicious spinning attacks. He can do damage going forward or backward and is comfortable either controlling the center of the cage or floating on the outside. Training at Legion Fight Club, he will typically keep the fight standing, but he has solid takedowns and takedown defense. Temirov carries his power throughout the fight but is at his most dangerous early on, with six of his last seven wins coming via first-round knockout.

(C) Petr Yan vs. #1 Merab Dvalishvili

*Petr Yan cracks Marcus McGhee with a powerful right hand. Credit: MMA Fighting.*

Bantamweight Title Bout

Petr Yan: 20-5-0, 7 KO/TKO, 1 Sub.

Merab Dvalishvili: 21-5-0, 3 KO/TKO, 2 Sub.

Yan has won four of his last five outings and has UFC victories over #2-ranked Bantamweight Song Yadong (24-9-1), #6-ranked Bantamweight Cory Sandhagen (18-7-0), and #9-ranked Bantamweight Marcus McGhee (12-2-0). He’s a versatile fighter with dominant striking and excellent wrestling, dangerous wherever the fight goes. He’s highly technical and precise on his feet, mixing kicks into combinations and never telegraphing his attacks. Training at BK Arkhangel Mikhail, Yan never slows down, always pursuing a finish and throwing with maximum power and speed. He can sustain a crazy pace for 25 minutes and has fantastic cardio, landing, on average, about 118 significant strikes per fight in his last five wins. He has excellent takedowns, especially trips, and will look to immediately do damage and land ground-and-pound from top position. Yan has faced nothing but the best in his UFC tenure and has gone toe-to-toe with five former or current champions.

*Merab Dvalishvili chokes out Sean O’Malley with a tight north-south choke. Credit: MMA Mania.*

Dvalishvili has won four of his last five fights and holds UFC victories over #3-ranked Bantamweight Sean O’Malley (20-3-0), #5-ranked Bantamweight Umar Nurmagomedov (20-2-0), and #6-ranked Bantamweight Cory Sandhagen (18-7-0). He has monstrous cardio, relentlessly pursuing takedowns and landing big flurries on the feet. He’s incredibly durable, always willing to eat a shot to land one, and constantly presses forward. Dvalishvili can easily wrestle for five rounds, averaging nearly six takedowns per fifteen minutes in the UFC. Training with the Syndicate MMA, he uses his constant wrestling threat to mask his striking, often feinting a takedown before coming forward to land powerful hooks and big combinations. He never stops moving on his feet or on the ground, constantly looking for a better position or an opening to land a shot. Dvalishvili always pushes a heavy pace and has outlanded nearly all of his UFC opponents, averaging about 99 significant strikes landed per fight in his last five outings.

(C) Alexander Volkanovski vs. #1 Movsar Evloev

*Alexander Volkanovski tags Max Holloway with a left hook. Credit: Zuffa LLC.*

Featherweight Title Bout

Alexander Volkanovski: 28-4-0, 13 KO/TKO, 3 Sub.

Movsar Evloev: 20-0-0, 3 KO/TKO, 4 Sub.

Volkanovski has won three of his last five bouts and has UFC wins over #2-ranked Featherweight Diego Lopes (28-8-0), #4-ranked Lightweight Max Holloway (28-9-0), and Yair Rodríguez (21-5-0). He’s a well-rounded scrapper who’s dangerous anywhere, with serious punching power and outstanding grappling. He’s highly accurate and remains technical throughout, throwing with power and in combination without loading up or wasting energy. He’ll regularly unload punishing kicks, especially to the legs, before blitzing into the pocket to let his hands go. Training at the Freestyle Fighting Gym, he has excellent cardio and can maintain a heavy pace for 25 minutes, averaging about 132 significant strikes landed per fight in his last five wins. He has excellent wrestling and BJJ to back up his striking, with fantastic takedowns, top control, and brutal ground-and-pound. Volkanovski has not fought in a non-title bout since 2019 and has faced only the best during his time at the top.

*Movsar Evloev lands a stiff right hand while securing a takedown on Lerone Murphy. Credit: MMA Junkie.*

Evloev is undefeated and holds UFC victories over #2-ranked Featherweight Diego Lopes (28-8-0), #3-ranked Featherweight Lerone Murphy (17-1-1), and #4-ranked Featherweight Aljamain Sterling (26-5-0). He’s a dominant wrestler with smothering top pressure and powerful striking. He’s averaging nearly five takedowns per fifteen minutes and secures them quickly, with clean, powerful entries both along the cage and in open space. Evloev has excellent top control and is highly active, constantly working to improve position and relentlessly doing damage. Training at American Top Team, he’s always pressuring and stalking his opponent and favors power over volume, not throwing often but always with impressive accuracy and power. He moves in and out of the pocket with ease and never keeps his head on the centerline, often dropping his head and blitzing forward to throw combinations. Evloev has excellent cardio and often heats up as the fight continues, taking more risks and letting his hands go more often.

Best Bets

Alexander Volkov by Decision: This is an excellent matchup between two dangerous Heavyweight strikers. Although both have plenty of punching power, I believe Volkov is the far more dynamic and technical of the two and will outmatch Kuniev on the feet. Kuniev has some flashy attacks in his arsenal, but his game plan typically relies on getting his opponent against the cage so he can land big shots in the clinch. I expect him to struggle to back up an opponent the size of Volkov. Volkov also has the takedown defense to keep it standing, eliminating any options for Kuniev outside of striking with Volkov in open space. I expect Volkov to take control from the opening bell, pressuring Kuniev, landing long kicks and punches, and not allowing Kuniev into the pocket where he’s most comfortable. As the fight continues, I expect Volkov to wear down Kuniev with constant, precise striking while remaining elusive, causing Kuniev to slow down and lose punching power. Kuniev has never been finished, and I expect a very tactical performance from Volkov, so I’m confident that Volkov will put on a dominant showing en route to a decision victory.

Petr Yan Moneyline: This is a long-awaited rubber match between two of the best Bantamweights of all time. I think Dvalishvili’s performance in their last meeting was affected by his absurd level of activity in 2025, but I still believe Yan has the cardio and takedown defense to keep the fight standing, where he has a significant technical advantage. In their last matchup, Yan showed he can match Dvalishvili on the mat and stuffed a whopping 27 takedowns, all without gassing out or losing any steam on his punches. Dvalishvili, although incredibly durable, is hardly a technical striker and largely relies on his hands, whereas Yan has an enormous arsenal of attacks and a vicious kicking game to boot. I expect this fight to get off to a quick start, with Yan pressing forward, lighting up Dvalishvili with kicks from range, and constantly attacking the body while defending takedowns. As the fight continues, I expect Dvalishvili to grow more desperate, opening him up to more damage on his feet and allowing Yan to fully dictate the pace and range of the fight. Overall, I believe this will be the most competitive fight of the trilogy, but I expect another impressive victory for Yan.

Volkanovski vs. Evloev Over 4.5 Rounds: This is a highly anticipated matchup between arguably the greatest Featherweight of all time and the true number one contender for the belt. I expect an extremely competitive fight throughout, with plenty of exciting striking, but I also anticipate constant grappling exchanges that will extend the length of this fight. Evloev has shown more of his striking in recent outings, like his bout with Lerone Murphy, but his bread and butter is wrestling, and I’d imagine that’s what he’ll rely on in his first shot at the title. Volkanovski has proven time and again to be an extremely well-rounded fighter with top-tier striking and grappling, and I don’t expect him to back down from anything Evloev throws at him. I expect this fight to have a high pace from the opening bell, likely with high-intensity grappling early on. As the fight continues, I believe the striking exchanges will increase, but I expect both men to pursue takedowns and to have moments on the mat and on their feet. I believe this fight will truly be a showcase of what top-level MMA talent looks like, with close exchanges everywhere the fight goes, and I am confident it will last at least four and a half rounds.

UFC 333 Preview