UFC 333: Volkanovski, 38, TKOs Unbeaten Evloev in Round 2; Yan Retains Title in Trilogy
At UFC 333 on Saturday, October 24, at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, 38, stopped previously undefeated challenger Movsar Evloev by TKO at 4:54 of the second round to retain his title. In the co-main event, bantamweight champion Petr Yan defeated Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision (48-47 on all three cards) to win their trilogy and keep his belt.
Evloev, six years younger and 20-0 entering the fight, was seen as the wrestler most likely to dethrone the champion. Instead Volkanovski pressed the action throughout, dropped Evloev with a clean left hand late in the second round and followed with ground strikes until referee Marc Goddard stepped in with six seconds left in the round. It was Volkanovski's first finish since beating Yair Rodriguez in 2023, and his ninth victory in UFC featherweight title fights, passing José Aldo for the most in division history. His record improved to 29-4, while Evloev fell to 20-1 with his first professional loss.
"Incredible — the guy is an absolute stud," UFC CEO Dana White said afterward. "He was the aggressive fighter, the one really going after it and trying to finish an undefeated, younger fighter." Volkanovski again floated a champion-versus-champion superfight with lightweight king Justin Gaethje. Yan lost the first two rounds on all three scorecards before sweeping the final three to complete the comeback in the 20th trilogy in UFC history. Elsewhere on the main card, Aaron Pico stopped Losene Keita by first-round TKO, Alexander Volkov outpointed Rizvan Kuniev, and Lone'er Kavanagh finished Ramazan Temirov in the first round.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 亚历山大·沃尔卡诺夫斯基（资料图）。Photo: NAPARAZZI, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
