UFC 333 fight card: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev, Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili 3 set for October
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- UFC announced Volkanovski vs. Evloev and Yan vs. Dvalishvili 3 as the main and co-main events for UFC 333 on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi, revealed during Saturday's UFC 330 broadcast
- Alexander Volkanovski, described as arguably the greatest featherweight of all time, defends against Movsar Evloev, with the article arguing a win over Evloev would do more for his legacy than consecutive victories over Diego Lopes
- Movsar Evloev enters the title fight at 20-0 after knocking out Lerone Murphy in a title eliminator, making him the long-considered most deserving contender at featherweight
- Merab Dvalishvili had built a 14-fight win streak with title defenses over Sean O'Malley, Umar Nurmagomedov, and Cory Sandhagen, and had been attempting to become the first UFC champion to defend four times in one calendar year at UFC 323
- Petr Yan pulled off what the source calls one of the most remarkable career turnarounds by convincingly defeating Dvalishvili, who had thrashed him two years earlier, setting up a trilogy bout
- UFC returns to Abu Dhabi months after a Fight Night headlined by Magomed Ankalaev vs. Bogdan Guskov
Why it matters: Volkanovski faces his most credentialed challenger yet in an undefeated grappler who cleared a title eliminator, while the bantamweight trilogy pits the man Dvalishvili had beaten twice against the fighter who just authored one of the division's most unexpected title wins — a Yan repeat would redefine the 135-pound hierarchy after Dvalishvili's 14-fight streak.
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