Merab Dvalishvili does not take days off from wrestling, and on Wednesday at Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi, a UFC cameraman learned that the hard way. During UFC 333 open workouts, the bantamweight challenger grabbed the staffer and put him on the mat as part of what MMA Junkie described as a relentless takedown grind that pulled UFC staff into the act. The promotion posted the clip to YouTube under the title “BEATING UP our cameraman!” which tells you the guy survived and the social team was thrilled.
Movsar Evloev took a different approach to entertaining the crowd. The undefeated featherweight challenger threw backflips for fans, then gave a brief look at his striking ahead of his title shot against Alexander Volkanovski, according to MMA Junkie’s posts on X.
All four title-fight athletes appeared at the session ahead of Saturday’s card at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, which airs on Paramount+.
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The title fights
Volkanovski (28-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) headlines as the featherweight champion. He held pads during the workout and ran through some finishing techniques, and MMA Junkie noted he showed off some answers to Evloev’s grappling. That’s a sensible thing for a champion to rehearse in public, since Evloev (20-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) has never lost as a pro and has gone 10-0 inside the Octagon.
The co-main is a bantamweight title trilogy between champion Petr Yan (20-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) and Dvalishvili (21-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC). Yan used his time in front of the fans to flash hand speed that MMA Junkie called sick, which is about as close as an open workout gets to a scouting report. Dvalishvili, true to form, spent his time on takedowns, with or without a willing partner.
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These two have shared the cage twice already, which is what makes Saturday a trilogy. Familiarity cuts both ways. Neither man should be surprised by anything the other brings.
Sal’s take
Open workouts are the most useless betting information in the sport, and I say that as a man who once moved money because a guy looked “sharp” hitting mitts in a hotel ballroom. (He got finished in the first. I still think about it.) Backflips tell you Evloev is athletic, which his 20-0 record already told you. Volkanovski demonstrating grappling counters on a pad man tells you his camp knows exactly where the danger is, which also isn’t news.
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The Merab clip is the one I keep rewatching, and it isn’t because of the cameraman. Dvalishvili treats a promotional appearance like a fifth-round scramble, chaining takedowns on whoever is nearest, and that pace is the whole case for him against a striker like Yan. If Yan’s hands look as quick on Saturday as they did at the mall, he can win minutes. The question for the trilogy is whether he can win enough of them before the takedown attempts stack up, because Merab will keep shooting until somebody stops the fight or the final horn sounds. Etihad Arena gets the answer this Saturday, October 24.
