The Great Unknown: Can Volkanovski Solve Evloev at UFC 333?
Written By: Daunte Lee Jones
College Football, Film, & MMA Contributor
Though the UFC 333 card isn’t headlined by some huge controversy or heated beef, it is filled with some of the most competitive matchups we will see this year. Hosted by Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, the card is headlined by the legendary two-time Featherweight champion in Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski as he looks to stop the momentum of the young and impressive Movsar Evloev. The card is sure to be an unpredictable showcase of technical prowess.
Coming off two straight victories against the dangerous Diego Lopez, 28-4 Alexander Volkanovski will face a much different style than the lethal strikers like Lopez and Max Holloway he’s grown accustomed to. 20-0 Evloev is an excellent grappler who looks to take down opponents and control the pace of the matchup through his ground game where he has excelled and dominated, earning many decision wins.
But that is the problem, though it has been years since Volk has faced a grappling first opponent he has proven with his battle against Islam Makhachev who is arguably the greatest grappler in modern MMA, that he can hang with that style. What gave Makhachev the edge to the fight against Volk that Evloev doesn’t possess is his finishing ability.
Makhachev has proven to have the threat of submitting his opponent while also carrying weight in his fist, Evloev has proven either, evident from his mere seven finishes of his 20 victories. The champion Volkanovski will defend Evloev’s takedowns and force the Russian to stand with him, where he will be exposed as The Great adds another victory to his resume, with a fifth-round decision win.
A rivalry that is taking much of the attention of the card is the third faceoff between 20-5 “No Mercy” Petr Yan and 21-5 “The Machine” Merab Dvalishvili. While each holds a victory in this series, that only tells a part of what we expect to see in the Bantamweight Championship. Yan holds the momentum in this matchup coming off his last fight where he not only beat Merab but ended his championship reign.
That night the two Bantamweight legends put on what was possibly the greatest bout in that weight class' history, but the fight did end with a unanimous decision for Yan. The two fighters excel in their relentless pace pushing opponents to the backfoot where control of the fight sits in their hands. Yan has proven to have the slight edge in this style so unless Merab can find another wrinkle in his gameplan to catch Yan off guard, we will once again see Petr Yan walk down Merab for a fifth-round decision win.
As I am always interested to watch up and coming fighters battle one another, the matchup between 10-2 Lone'er Kavanagh and 20-3 Ramazan Temirov interests me greatly. Lone'er Kavanagh is a counter striker who has proven to be able to control fights in stand up, with his infusion of great distance control and timing into his game. Meanwhile, Ramazan Temirov is a power‑striker with one punch knock out ability that has also shown off an impressive takedown defense in his early UFC career. This match will stay on the feet, but against Temirov’s insane power, I don’t believe we will see Kavanagh be able to hang with his opponent as he is fed and chewed out in a first-round KO.
Other fighters on the main card to watch would be the arguably greatest heavyweight in modern MMA Alexander Volkov, as he looks to take advantage of his opponent Rizvan Kuniev’s lack of skill in comparison to his own in precision striking for a decision victory. Along with Losene Keita who matches up against the tough Aaron Pico, but due to entering the fight in better physical condition than Pico who has recently fought edge him out for a possible second round KO. In the prelims an interesting debuting fighter to keep an eye out on would be Asaf Chopurov who is coming off a dominant title reign in his former promotion, UAE Warriors.
© 2026 Sideline Society Media. All original content, branding, and editorial work are protected. Third-party media is embedded for editorial purposes and remains the property of its respective rights holders.
