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UFC 333 pre-event facts: Is Movsar Evloev the next undefeated champ?

The UFC returns to Abu Dhabi for *UFC 333* this weekend, where two high-stakes championship battles will anchor a stacked card. In the main event, reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski (28-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) will defend his title against the undefeated Movsar Evloev (20-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC), a fight that could crown Evloev as the 18th UFC champion to win a title with a perfect record.

Volkanovski, Australia’s only UFC champion, holds the record for the longest average fight time in featherweight competition at 18:03 and is one of just four fighters in UFC history to start 12-0 in the promotion, joining legends like Anderson Silva and Khabib Nurmagomedov. Meanwhile, Evloev’s 20-fight winning streak is the longest among active UFC fighters, and his nine-fight decision win streak at featherweight is the longest active in the division—all earned through unanimous decisions, a rarity for undefeated champions.

His 52 takedowns in 10 UFC fights, including two or more landed against nine of his opponents, underscore his dominance in grappling, with 49 of those takedowns coming in featherweight competition, second only to Darren Elkins in divisional history. The co-main event features bantamweight champion Petr Yan (20-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) facing former titleholder Merab Dvalishvili (21-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) in a trilogy bout, with Yan becoming the first fighter to lose a title by disqualification and one of only three two-time bantamweight champions in UFC history.

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