At 38, Alexander Volkanovski proved once again why he is the undisputed featherweight champion, stopping Movsar Evloev in the second round and ending the Russian's perfect 20-0 record. The UFC 333 main event at Abu Dhabi's Etihad Arena opened on the challenger's terms, with Evloev blending leg kicks and quick takedowns from the clinch to bank the first five minutes 10-9 on the judges' scorecards. The second round was a different fight entirely. When Evloev grabbed a body lock and dragged him to the canvas, Volkanovski reversed position with real craft, landed shots from the top and worked his way back to his feet. A clean right hand then hurt the challenger, a follow-up combination sent him down, and a barrage of ground-and-pound left him curled up and covering until referee Marc Goddard stepped in at 4:54, just six seconds before the bell. It was Volkanovski's ninth win in UFC featherweight title fights, finally taking Jose Aldo's record outright. Yet the Australian was already looking ahead. Beyond a title defence against Jean Silva, he admitted that a lightweight superfight with champion Justin Gaethje holds real appeal. "That's something I would retire for," Volkanovski said of the idea.
Fifty-eight takedown attempts, a UFC record, were still not enough for Merab Dvalishvili to win back the bantamweight title, as Petr Yan took the deciding chapter of their trilogy by unanimous decision, 48-47 on all three scorecards. For the first ten minutes of the co-main event, the Georgian was in total command. He shot for 19 takedowns in the opening two rounds, completed five and smothered the Russian champion so effectively that Yan was never allowed to go on the attack, leaving Dvalishvili 20-18 up on the cards. Then the momentum swung dramatically. Over the final three rounds Dvalishvili chased 39 more takedowns, and Yan's flawless defence turned every one of them away. As fatigue set in and the wrestling yielded nothing, Yan took control of the distance, forced him backwards with a heavy shot to the liver and marked up his face with knees and sharp combinations. Tellingly, it was the champion who found his rhythm when it mattered, confirming he is back at the peak of his career and closing out the trilogy 2-1. For all that, Dvalishvili showed extraordinary durability in the Octagon, and several fellow fighters felt he had done enough to win. "I'm not a judge. But I had Merab winning," said former UFC fighter Jessica Penne. Ultimately, the damage Yan dealt out in the closing rounds kept the belt around his waist.
Further down the main card and on the prelims, the knockouts came thick and fast. At flyweight, Lone'er Kavanagh ended Ramazan Temirov's 12-fight winning run with a brutal TKO at 4:28 of the first round, the 27-year-old Englishman rocking his opponent with an uppercut before a volley of left hands put him on the canvas. "In any case, Alhamdulillah," Temirov wrote afterwards. Kavanagh, who pocketed a Performance of the Night bonus, had loftier things in mind. "I'm here for that title," he declared, asking to be named as backup for the flyweight title fight between champion Joshua Van and Manel Kape. Heavyweight Alexander Volkov won a unanimous decision over Rizvan Kuniev, controlling the fight behind his jab and low kicks. "What should I do to get a title shot?" he asked UFC chief Dana White directly. At featherweight, Aaron Pico overwhelmed short-notice replacement Losene Keita inside the first round, while in the standout light heavyweight bout Dominick Reyes knocked out Azamat Murzakanov at 2:40 of the opening round. With five wins from his last six fights, the former title challenger is now firmly back in the championship picture.
