Sports staff at MMA Knockout have released their picks for all five bouts on the UFC 333 main card.
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The MMA Knockout staff has published predictions for the full UFC 333 main-card slate, led by a featherweight title fight pairing Alexander Volkanovski with Movsar Evloev.
For the main event, the staff anticipates a Volkanovski victory. Drew Beaupré picked Volkanovski, citing Evloev’s difficulty with finishing and suggesting Volkanovski’s work over five rounds as the key factor. Zain Bando also selected Volkanovski, calling the title shot “long overdue” and arguing that Volkanovski’s danger regardless of where the fight goes makes a decision outcome more likely as the bout progresses.
On Evloev vs. Volkanovski, the staff verdict was unanimous for Volkanovski.
In the co-main event, the staff predicts a competitive bantamweight trilogy between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili. Drew leaned toward Yan, expecting another tightly contested fight that could hinge on one or two major moments that swing rounds. Zain’s pick was Dvalishvili, pointing to both fighters being “100 percent healthy” and describing gas-tank performance late as a deciding factor in a championship-round matchup.
The staff’s combined verdict for Yan vs. Dvalishvili was split 1-1.
The main card also includes Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Ramazan Temirov, where the staff split. Drew picked Kavanagh, reflecting on Temirov’s recent knockout of Steve Erceg and noting Kavanagh’s ability to improve over time, while Zain selected Temirov, pointing to Temirov’s strong knockout-rate output and suggesting a stoppage loss could be possible for Kavanagh.
For Kavanagh vs. Temirov, the staff verdict was split 1-1.
Finally, the staff picked Alexander Volkov over Rizvan Kuniev and Losene Keita over Aaron Pico. For Volkov vs. Kuniev, both Drew and Zain chose Volkov, with Drew citing Kuniev’s difficulty implementing his style without closing distance and Zain highlighting Volkov’s experience and Kuniev’s recent back-to-back win over Tyrell Fortune. For Pico vs. Keita, both picks favoured Keita, with Drew framing it as a high-impact opportunity after Keita rebounded from a prior UFC debut loss with a knockout win in his most recent outing, and Zain describing the matchup as striker-versus-grappler favouring Keita’s knockout path.
For Volkov vs. Kuniev and Pico vs. Keita, the staff verdicts were unanimous for Volkov and Keita, respectively.
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