UFC 333: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev — Date, Time, How to Watch

The UFC returns to Etihad Arena on Yas Island this Saturday, Oct. 24, for UFC 333, headlined by a pair of championship bouts that could usher in a new era for two divisions. In the main event, featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski defends his belt against the undefeated Movsar Evloev, while bantamweight champion Petr Yan meets Merab Dvalishvili in a trilogy co-main event.

For fans in the United States, the fights will be broadcast at a much earlier time than usual due to the location of the event in the United Arab Emirates. Make sure to read the start times below so you don’t miss any of the action.

How to Watch

Date: Saturday, October 24, 2026

Location: Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Broadcast: Streaming on Paramount+.

Early Prelims: 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT

 Prelims: 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT

Main Card: 2 p.m. ET/ 11 a.m. PT

Full Fight Card

Main Card (11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET)

• Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev (Featherweight Championship)
• Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili (Bantamweight Championship)
• Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Ramazan Temirov (Flyweight)
• Alexander Volkov vs. Rizvan Kuniev (Heavyweight)
• Aaron Pico vs. Losene Keita (Featherweight) 

Prelims (9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET)

• Azamat Murzakanov vs. Dominick Reyes (Light Heavyweight)
• Nikita Krylov vs. Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev (Light Heavyweight)
• Abusupiyan Magomedov vs. Cameron Rowston (Middleweight)
• Grant Dawson vs. Nurullo Aliev (Lightweight) 

Early Prelims (7 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. ET)

• Colby Thicknesse vs. Asaf Chopurov (Bantamweight)
• Abubakar Vagaev vs. Jacob Malkoun (Middleweight)
• Bolaji Oki vs. Daniel Santos (Featherweight)
• Kody Steele vs. Noah Gagnon (Lightweight)
• Iasmin Lucindo vs. Nicole Caliari (Women’s Strawweight) 

Main Event Breakdown

Alexander Volkanovski’s championship experience and refined striking will be tested against the most persistent wrestling threat the featherweight division has seen in years. Movsar Evloev enters the bout as an undefeated challenger but has yet to find a finish in his seven-year UFC career.

Tale of the Tape

Alexander Volkanovski

The veteran Volkanovski enters his second title reign at a crossroads. Having recently turned 38 years old on Sept. 29, the Australian has openly acknowledged that his physical prime is behind him, particularly regarding his durability. However, his tactical intelligence remains elite.

After losing the featherweight belt in 2024 to Ilia Topuria by devastating KO, he regained the belt the following year in a championship brawl with one of the division’s best grapplers, Diego Lopes.

Since regaining the belt, he fought a rematch with Lopes and proved he still has the skills to win at the highest level.

Volkanovski’s defensive wrestling has been one of his main strengths throughout his UFC career. According to official UFC statistics, he has a 68 percent takedown defense rate, a figure skewed by his two lightweight title challenges against Islam Makhachev, where he was taken down four times in their first encounter. With his stocky, 5’6” frame, he has consistently denied taller fighters the ability to cleanly establish leverage, and has always been urgent with his hip position and wall walking to keep himself from getting pinned.

His striking remains among the most sophisticated in the sport by blending feints, angle changes, and volume punching with a defensive acumen that has historically frustrated opponents who cannot match his pace.

The undefeated Movsar Evloev, however, presents a problem Volkanovski has not faced at 145 pounds, as a wrestler with relentless, chain-wrestling persistence and a refusal to accept bottom position. 

Movsar Evloev

Evloev has landed 49 takedowns inside the Octagon, with nearly half coming against elite competition including Lerone Murphy, Aljamain Sterling, Arnold Allen, and Diego Lopes. 

Every single one of his 10 UFC victories has come by decision, a statistic that displays his control, but also his lack of finishing instinct. Just because he wins by decision, however, does not mean he is passive or boring.

A great example of this is his performance against Sterling, where the two engaged in a back-and-forth barnburner of a grappling battle.

Evloev can impose his grappling game plan for sustained stretches to win rounds against Volkanovski. His majority-decision win over Murphy in March exemplified this pattern. 

The man is methodical, suffocating, and ultimately undeniable on the scorecards.

The likely path to victory for Volkanovski involves keeping the fight at range, punishing Evloev’s entries with counters consistently, and forcing the challenger to expend energy on failed shots. For Evloev, the formula is simpler and more brutal: pressure, clinch, takedown, repeat, and test whether the champion can sustain five rounds of that without wilting.

More MMA News

• Merab Dvalishvili Just Ended His Feud With Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Camp in Five Words
• Scott Coker Wants to Bring Back a Strike the UFC Has Banned for Years, and California Regulators Will Decide
• Heavyweight Contenders Collide as Volkov’s Experience Meets Kuniev’s Rise
• No. 6 Meets No. 7 — Kavanagh and Temirov Bring Flyweight Chaos to Abu Dhabi

This story was originally published by Athlon on Oct 22, 2026, where it first appeared in the MMA section. Add Athlon as a Preferred Source by clicking here.