The four men fighting for UFC gold in Abu Dhabi this weekend sit down Thursday for the UFC 333 pre-fight press conference. Dana White is hosting, and the live stream starts at 9 a.m. ET.
Alexander Volkanovski headlines the room. The featherweight champion defends his belt against undefeated 145-pound contender Movsar Evloev in Saturday’s main event at Etihad Arena, Oct. 24. That is the fight a lot of people wanted. Evloev has the zero on his record, and Volkanovski has the belt.
The co-main gives the card its second title fight and its bad blood. Bantamweight champion Petr Yan meets former 135-pound titleholder Merab Dvalishvili to finish their trilogy. Two men who have already shared a cage twice don’t usually need a press conference to get worked up. They get one anyway, and the face-offs are what most people will clip.
This isn’t the first time this crew has done the dog-and-pony show. UFC 333 already had a press conference on Sept. 18 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, where Zuffa photographer Chris Unger caught Volkanovski on stage. Thursday’s version moves to fight week and fight city. MMA Mania and Yahoo Sports are both carrying the stream. For viewers across the pond, bet365’s news site ran a guide to the UK start time. The full card, including the Paramount+ portion of the lineup, is posted at MMA Mania.
The pre-fight chatter has mostly been about the champion’s place in history. UFC analyst Laura Sanko told MMA Junkie she’s picking Volkanovski. She also went further than a pick. She acknowledged that Jose Aldo will stay the choice for plenty of fans, and she pointed to recency bias and nostalgia as reasons people land on one side or the other. Her own verdict was blunt: “To me, Volk is the No. 1 featherweight of all time.”
She also addressed the age question head on. “Father Time comes for all of us,” Sanko said, though she added that she doesn’t think it has caught up with him enough to cost him this one. Her breakdown favors Volkanovski’s striking and his ability to defend takedowns and get back up. Her path for Evloev is a grinding one, where he takes the champion down, burns clock and keeps him from doing damage on the feet. Her bottom line: “I think just skill-wise Volk is the superior fighter in this matchup.”
That leaves a clear assignment for Thursday. Somebody in that room should ask Evloev directly how he plans to keep Volkanovski on the mat for 25 minutes, and I want a straight answer instead of the usual line about waiting to see what happens on fight night. Meanwhile, Yan and Merab could probably skip the microphones and just stare at each other until White calls time. Both title fights go Saturday, Oct. 24, at Etihad Arena.
