At UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 24, Alexander Volkanovski retained the featherweight title by stopping Movsar Evloev, while Petr Yan defended his bantamweight belt and Aaron Pico earned a first-round TKO.
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Alexander Volkanovski defended his UFC featherweight championship at UFC 333 on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, stopping Movsar Evloev at 4:54 of the second round to hand the challenger his first loss in the UFC.
The 38-year-old Australian overwhelmed Evloev with punches late in the round, sending him to the canvas before the referee intervened with six seconds remaining. Volkanovski improved to 16-3 in the UFC and recorded his ninth UFC featherweight title-fight win, tying Jose Aldo for the most wins in the division.
Volkanovski pressed the action early despite giving up size, repeatedly regaining his footing after Evloev’s first-round takedowns. Evloev struggled to turn those opportunities into sustained control as Volkanovski continued finding openings with punches, even after developing swelling and a cut beneath his left eye.
In the co-main event, Petr Yan retained his UFC bantamweight title with a unanimous decision over No. 1 contender Merab Dvalishvili. Yan (21-5) turned back the former champion, who fell to 21-6.
Dvalishvili entered with a UFC-record 119 takedowns, including a title-fight record 20 against Cory Sandhagen, but Yan’s victory kept him in his second reign as bantamweight champion.
In the featherweight division, Whittier’s Aaron Pico improved his UFC run with a first-round TKO against Losene Keita. Pico (15-5) stopped Keita (17-3) at 1:14 of the first round after dropping him with a straight right hand and finishing with a flurry of punches.
The bout followed Pico’s previous UFC loss, when he debuted at UFC 319 in August of last year and lost via a first-round spinning back elbow from Lerone Murphy. The record at UFC 333 marked Pico’s second straight UFC win.
Elsewhere on the card, sixth-ranked flyweight Lone’er Kavanagh earned a first-round knockout over No. 10 Ramazan Temirov. Kavanagh (11-2) finished the fight at 4:28 of the first round after catching the advancing Temirov with a left uppercut and following with a flurry of punches.
Temirov suffered his first UFC loss after starting his UFC career with his first three wins. He entered UFC 333 with a 20-3 record before the defeat.
In the heavyweight ranks, second-ranked Alexander Volkov celebrated his 38th birthday with a unanimous decision victory over No. 7 Rizvan Kuniev. Volkov (41-11) won on the judges’ scorecards over Kuniev (15-4-1, one no-contest) in a fight that marked Volkov’s 15th win in 20 UFC appearances.
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