UFC 333 is set at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski defends his belt against Movsar Evloev in the main event, and Merab Dvalishvili meets Petr Yan at 135 pounds in the co-main. The card did take one late hit. According to the official r/MMA weigh-in and pre-fight thread, Arnold Allen is out with an injury, which scrapped his fight with Aaron Pico. Pico keeps his main card slot and now faces Losene Keita at featherweight.
The whole event streams on Paramount+. Early prelims start at 10 a.m. ET (also on UFC Fight Pass), the prelims follow at 12 p.m. ET, and the main card begins at 2 p.m. ET. Weigh-ins were scheduled for 1 a.m. ET. The thread notes that bout order and start times may still shift, so check before you set an alarm.
Below the top two fights, the main card runs Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Ramazan Temirov at 125, Alexander Volkov vs. Rizvan Kuniev at heavyweight and Pico vs. Keita at 145. I will happily admit the flyweight fight is the one I’d circle first. Flyweights tend to make you pay for a slow first exchange, and a fight at that weight sitting on a pay-per-view-level main card should get more eyeballs than it usually does.
The prelims carry real names. Dominick Reyes fights Azamat Murzakanov at light heavyweight, Abus Magomedov meets Cam Rowston at middleweight, Nikita Krylov takes on Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev at 205 and Grant Dawson faces Nurullo Aliev at lightweight. The early prelims open with Jacob Malkoun vs. Abubakar Vagaev at 185 and Colby Thicknesse vs. Asaf Chopurov at bantamweight. Daniel Santos vs. Bolaji Oki (145), Iasmin Lucindo vs. Nicolle Caliari (115) and Noah Gugnon vs. Kody Steele (155) are also listed on the card.
The promotional push is in full swing. Sherdog has published its full preview of the event, and the UFC’s Embedded series reached Episode 3, titled “Don’t blink,” according to Yahoo Sports.
My take: I’m picking Volkanovski to keep the belt by decision. The question I care about is whether Evloev can make this a grappling fight and keep it there for 25 minutes, and if he does, I don’t want to hear a single “lay and pray” complaint from anyone who can’t tell a wrist ride from a hug. Championship fights at featherweight usually swing on what happens between rounds, so watch the corners before Round 3. In the co-main I’ll take Dvalishvili, and I’m crossing my fingers that the judges keep their 10-8 cards in their pockets unless someone actually earns one. Early prelims go off at 10 a.m. ET with Malkoun and Vagaev.
