A big night of fights is set to go down in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. The UFC 333 card is headlined by a pair of title fights, including undefeated Movsar Evloev challenging Alexander Volkanovski for the UFC featherweight championship in the main event.
Evloev holds a perfect 20-0 professional record, but he'll face the biggest test of his career in Volkanovski, who is on his second run as 145-pound champion at age 38.
In the co-main event, Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili will clash in a rubber match for the bantamweight championship. Dvalishvili won their first meeting en route to winning the championship and a lengthy title run, but dropped the belt to Yan in their December rematch.
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The rest of the main card has more evenly matched fights that could provide some answers for key divisions as the end of the year approaches. A pair of young and exciting flyweights meet in a featured bout when Lone'er Kavanagh takes on Ramazan Temirov. Plus, perennial heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov looks to put a final stamp on his contendership when he takes on Rizvan Kuniev in a key battle. And former top prospect Aaron Pico looks to take the next step in his rise when he faces knockout artist Losene Keita at featherweight.
With so much happening on Saturday night, let's look more closely at the full fight card with the latest odds before we get to our staff predictions and picks for the main card that you can consider before hitting the sportsbooks.
UFC 333 fight card, odds
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook (Odds as of Oct. 22)
- Alexander Volkanovski (c) -110 vs. Movsar Evloev -110, featherweight championship
- Petr Yan (c) -135 vs. Merab Dvalishvili +114, bantamweight championship
- Lone'er Kavanagh -118 vs. Ramazan Temirov -102, flyweights
- Alexander Volkov -125 vs. Rizvan Kuniev +105, heavyweights
- Aaron Pico -155 vs. Losene Keita +130, featherweights
- Azamat Murzakanov -205 vs. Dominick Reyes +170, light heavyweights
- Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev -550 vs. Nikita Krylov +410, light heavyweights
- Abus Magomedov -125 vs. Cam Rowston +105, middleweights
- Grant Dawson -115 vs. Nurullo Aliev -105, lightweights
- Abubakar Vagaev -162 vs. Jacob Malkoun +136, middleweights
- Asaf Chopurov -600 vs. Colby Thicknesse +440, bantamweights
- Daniel Santos -120 vs. Bolaji Oki +100, featherweights
- Kody Steele -155 vs. Noah Gugnon +130, lightweights
- Iasmin Lucindo -410 vs. Nicolle Caliari +320, women's strawweights
UFC 333 expert picks
With such a massive main event on tap, the crew at CBS Sports went ahead with predictions and picks for the main card from Brian Campbell, Brent Brookhouse, Shakiel Mahjouri, Michael Mormile and Brandon Wise.
| Campbell | Brookhouse | Mahjouri | Mormile | Wise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volkanovski (c) vs. Evloev | Evloev UD | Volkanovski UD | Volkanovski UD | Volkanovski UD | Evloev UD |
| Yan (c) vs. Dvalishvili | Yan TKO4 | Yan SD | Yan UD | Yan UD | Yan UD |
| Kavanagh vs. Temirov | Temirov TKO3 | Temirov TKO3 | Kavanagh UD | Kavanagh UD | Temirov KO2 |
| Volkov vs. Kuniev | Volkov UD | Volkov UD | Kuniev UD | Volkov TKO3 | Volkov TKO2 |
| Pico vs. Keita | Keita KO2 | Pico UD | Pico UD | Pico UD | Keita KO1 |
| Records to date | 29-23 | 31-21 | 31-21 | 25-22 | 25-27 |
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev predictions
Campbell: Volkanovski's longevity has been remarkable to see, especially after he bounced back from stoppage losses to Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria to regain the featherweight title. But it must be said that both of his victories since those damaging defeats came against the all-action but technically limited Diego Lopes, whom Evloev defeated by decision in 2023. For whatever Evloev lacks as a finisher inside the Octagon, he has size, an incredible motor and a physical grappling style that has the potential to wear down the 38-year-old Volkanovski in the championship rounds. He also has a better fight IQ than what Lopes showed against Volkanovski over 10 rounds.
Brookhouse: There are few fights where I will pick against Volkanovski until I've truly seen time catch up to him. Evloev has tremendous wrestling and a willingness to use that wrestling to grind out ugly wins, but Volkanovski has a well-rounded game that also features strong takedown defense. Volkanovski has been here before and he's got the kind of gritty, gutsy game that should require Evloev to do more than just wrestle. While Evloev has shown some strong skills when forced to fight on the feet, Volkanovski has brilliant timing and distance management tools that should let him edge out the fight on the cards.
Mahjouri: Volkanovski says he'll deliver such a sublime performance that fans will think he's de-aged. I'm inclined to believe him. The champion doesn't mean to disrespect his challenger. In fact, he believes Evloev is supremely talented. Volkanovski's confidence stems from the style matchup. He sharpened his grappling defense in preparation for two lightweight fights with Islam Makhachev. On the feet, it's his fight to lose. Volkanovski has a deeper, more nuanced striking arsenal and can fight without fear of being knocked out. Evloev has stopped three opponents by strikes, and none were in the UFC. Evloev is tenacious and will make Volkanovski work early. However, as the fight goes on, expect Volkanovski to break ahead and deliver exactly the performance he predicts.
Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili predictions
Campbell: After Yan rebounded from a series of losses and injuries, he returned against Dvalishvili a new fighter in their December rematch. Yan took "The Machine" down five times, shut down Dvalishvili's wrestling attack and proved he could match him from the standpoint of pace and cardio. And if Yan can do the same and make their trilogy bout into a kickboxing match, it's hard not to imagine the same scenario from 10 months ago happening again. Dvalishvili was also hurt multiple times in their rematch, including on a pair of body kicks in Round 3 that likely would've finished any other opponent. If Yan can continue to widen the gap between them in terms of striking variety and potency, a stoppage isn't out of the question.
Brookhouse: This feels like an impossible fight to pick. Yan fought brilliantly in the rematch, defending against takedowns and using great striking, including a huge body kick that badly hurt Dvalishvili. However, it's hard to know if that fight was a product of Yan hitting a new level -- or at least finding his way back to his old form -- or Dvalishvili seeing a wildly ambitious 2025 schedule catch up to him and impact his performance. My best guess is that Saturday's rubber match is an extremely close fight, and one Yan edges by his best moments on the feet being more eye-catching than what Dvalishvili produces.
Who wins Volkanovski vs. Evloev, and how exactly does the fight end? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks and analysis from the incomparable expert who is up over $21,000 on his UFC picks since May 2018, and find out.
