Announced during Saturday’s UFC 330 main card, UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi on October 24 at the Etihad Arena will be headlined by Alexander Volkanovski (28-4) putting his featherweight title on the line against Russia’s Movsar Evloev (20-0).

In the co-main event, current bantamweight champ Yan (20-5) and former champ Dvalishvili (21-5) will meet for the third time, with their career series tied 1-1.

Several other fights were also announced on Saturday, including an anticipated featherweight showdown between England’s Arnold Allen, and former Bellator star Aaron Pico.

Movsar Evloev has long been the most deserving contender in the featherweight division, but his lack of finishes saw him passed over by the likes of Diego Lopes, who he holds a win over. A March decision victory over Lerone Murphy, however, made the former M-1 champ’s case for a title shot undeniable. Evloev is 10-0 under the UFC banner.

Volkanovski reclaimed his featherweight title last year, and defended it this past April, beating Diego Lopes each time. It’s the second reign for the Australian, who is now 37 and destined for the UFC Hall of Fame.

Like Volkanovski, Petr Yan is on his second reign as UFC champion. While also holding an interim belt, Yan has yet to successfully defend one of his titles in the UFC. The Russian has won his last four fights, and beat Dvalishvili by decision to reclaim gold at UFC 323 in December.

Dvalishvili, like Yan, has not competed since their December showdown. He had defended his bantamweight crown three times prior to the Yan loss, tying the promotion record. The Georgian was also trying for a record fourth title defense inside of a year when he lost to Yan.

UFC 333’s card as announced on Saturday breaks down as follows:

• Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Movsar Evloev – for the UFC featherweight championship
• Petr Yan (c) vs. Merab Dvalishvili – for the UFC bantamweight championship
• Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Ramazonbek Temirov
• Alexander Volkov vs. Rizvan Kuniev
• Arnold Allen vs. Aaron Pico

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Petr Yan

As Merab Dvalishvili was attempting to pull off something that had never been done, it was Petr Yan who ended up writing a piece of history. Before UFC 323, none of the two-time champions had ever regained their title after surmounting a three-fight losing streak. The man who was near the top of the pound-for-pound list in 2021 incomprehensibly threw away his belt with a stupid illegal strike. He then lost consecutive split decisions that were each a punch or two away from going his way. That skid was topped by Dvalishvili who thoroughly defeated him, blanking him on the scorecards. By that point, “No Mercy” was already two years removed from losing his belt and looked further away from it than ever. Years or specific training and game-planning for an eventual rematch with the Georgian “Machine” finally paid off on Saturday as Yan put on one of the greatest performances in a title fight by a challenger in recent memory. He beat Goliath, slayed the dragon, however you want to refer to it.

As Yan will undoubtedly skyrocket back up the pound-for-pound list, he has to know the job isn’t done yet. Yes, Umar Nurmagomedov and Sean O’Malley could slide in should they get a nice win in January. However, assuming Merab’s activity stays reasonable, those two will have to meet again.

Yan’s next fight: Merab Dvalishvili

Joshua Van

Some will refuse to count this as a legitimate win for Joshua Van, but on paper, the 24-year-old from Myanmar is your new flyweight champion. This anti-climactic ending has unfortunately thrown cold water on what has been a phenomenal year for Van. Time will tell whether Pantoja can heal and turn around in time to reasonably be Van’s next opponent. If he can, there’s no reason to not simply wait and book it again. If not, Van should be fighting Tatsuro Taira next. I understand that a lot of people will be on the Kyoji Horiguchi train, but I would prefer to have Kyoji win another fight because I don’t see a win over Tagir Ulanbekov warranting a title shot. The man who might insert himself in this conversation is Manel Kape, should he put on a standout performance against Brandon Royval this weekend.

Van’s next fight: Alexandre Pantoja if available (or Tatsuro Taira)

Tatsuro Taira

Say what will about the stoppage, Taira was dealing and looking like a million bucks. While I do believe referee Mark Smtih stopped the action a tad early, it doesn’t affect my read on the fight since I personally don’t think it impacted the outcome of the bout. Brandon Moreno grabbed a triangle in the first round and held it for almost its entirety. But Taira stayed calm, defended the submission attempt and got out of it. As soon as round 2 started, it was all Taira. After learning valuable lessons from his five-round banger with Royval last fall, the Japanese uber prospect appears to be putting it all together, which is a scary thought for the rest of the division since he’s still only 25.

With Pantoja’s timeline still unclear, I can’t tell who will be the champion by the time Taira gets his title shot, but one thing if clear in my mind: his next fight should be for a title.

Taira’s next fight: Title shot

Payton Talbott

What a way for Payton Talbott to end 2025. The man who laid an egg in January as a -1000 betting favourite against Raoni Barcelos outwrestled Henry Cejudo. After surrendering eight takedowns to Barcelos earlier this year, Talbott’s stock took a massive hit. So much so that he was the underdog coming into his next fight against Felipe Lima. He already looked a lot improved in that win in June and even more so after putting a beating on the former double champion Cejudo. A rocky start to the year, but it now feels like we can strap a rocket to the 27-year-old who has shown massive improvements in such a small time frame.

The UFC seems to be looking for stars as they will want to pull in viewers to start their new broadcast deal with Paramount. Talbott seems to have star potential, so I would imagine the promotion will look to give him fights that would favour him on paper. Someone like Marlon Vera, who is on a losing skid, or Rob Font, who is 38, could make sense. I wouldn’t hate a Barcelos rematch. They could also look to give him Sean O’Malley, a fellow star who’s been hinting at perhaps leaving the sport sooner than later, but that could be too much too soon. That’s why I like the idea of matching him up with Aiemann Zahabi. The Canadian is ranked inside the top 10, on a win streak, but is 38 and has arguably lost his last two fights.

Talbott’s next fight: Aiemann Zahabi

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“I’m very happy that the belt is back in my hands,” Yan told reporters through a translator in his post-fight scrum.

“I knew that the entire time I had to push my initiative, I had to make sure to damage him. I understand that I’m fighting in the champion’s hometown, this is his back yard. I flew 30 hours to get here. I knew that in order for the belt to go in my hands I had to make sure to leave no stone unturned, no questions.”

Yan (20-5) was pressed about the possibility of a rematch with Dvalishvili down the line. While the newly crowned champion didn’t rule it out, he stopped short of committing to a definitive answer. If anything he used it as a chance to troll Dvalishvili.

“I think Merab should really just get the boys, get into the jacuzzi, think about it, and then we’ll see,” he said.

“I never chose what to do as a champion. I never chose my opponents. Whatever the UFC, whatever the organization tells me to do, let’s go. Pedal to the metal,” he said.

“Just understand the fact that for me to get the opportunity to fight for the belt again UFC made me go three more fights before I was able to get into the contender position again.”

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The rematch, the final main event of the UFC’s numbered events on ESPN, was a thriller, with Petr Yan showing up in career-best form. On route to evening his career series with Dvalishvili, who was attempting to defend his 135lb title for a record-setting fourth time in a calendar year, Russia’s Yan displayed top-notch takedown defense, and even landed a few takedowns of his own. On top of that, he had the edge in striking, rocking and bloodying Dvalishvili early in the bout.

True to form, Dvalishvili’s cardio never faded, but he soon found himself in an unfamiliar position: fighting from behind. And he never could make up the gap, losing a unanimous decision with the closest score being a 48-47. The remaining two judges, however, scored the fight 49-46.

The win for Yan sets up a trilogy fight, which might be the smart play for the UFC, given how good Saturday’s headliner was.

Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC 323 went to Iwo Baraniewski, who got into a one-round, actually 89-second brawl with Ibo Aslan, and Manuel Torres. Torres put away Grant Dawson in the night’s featured prelim.

All four bonus-winners take home the usual $50,000 U.S. for their efforts (with that number set to rise in the new year).

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No UFC champion had ever defended their title four times in a single year. But Dvalishvili, on a fourteen fight win streak, was very much living up to his nickname of “The Machine.”

Former champ Yan, meanwhile, was looking to avenge a prior decision loss to Georgia’s Dvalishvili.

The night had already seen one title change hands, albeit off an injury. Might there be a second?

Petr Yan looked to press early, backing the champ up against the fence. Dvalishvili, however, pressed back, letting his hands go. A right hand threatened, and a left trailed it, connecting, though there wasn’t much on it. Yan was able to cover up and roll with several of Dvalishvili’s attacks, and found success with his jab. A very even fight through the first two and a half minutes; Yan seemed to rock Merab just past the halfway point. That led to Merab going after a takedown, and while a trip didn’t land, Merab stayed on it.

Yan showed some solid takedown defense, and eventually broke free of a body lock. After an exchange of jabs, however, Dvalisvili took the fight right back to the fence, forcing Yan to defend again.

Dvalishvili landed a right hand to start round two, then punched his way into a takedown attempt. Yan, again, showed stupendous takedown defense, at one point displaying his balance and staying upright on one leg. Yan, meanwhile, connected with his jab. Then, Yan flipped the script, changed levels, and landed his own takedown. Not a good idea in the end, as Merab scrambled and reversed. Yan tried to do the same, and took the fight back to the fence. Merab would spend time with a body lock, but again couldn’t get Yan down; the Russian instead reversed. They’d battle it out at the end of the round, exchanging blows.

Yan opened round three with a low kick, keeping the champ guessing. Dvalishvili, meanwhile, had absorbed considerable damage to his nose in the earlier rounds and was bloodied. Merab landed a right, but Yan went after a takedown and wound up slamming Dvalishvili! Merab survived, got up, lifted Yan, and tried to slam him but more dumped him on his side. Yan scrambled right back to his feet; Dvalishvili dragged the challenger down again. This time, when Yan fought off a takedown, Dvalishvili kneed the body. Another shot followed.

Another shot by the champ saw Yan sprawling. He appeared to have slowed a step however. Dvalishvili not so much. They traded knees in the clinch. A body kick at the end of the round landed with a crack, and backed Merab up. Yan went in on a takedown, but couldn’t land it.

The championship rounds had Dvalishvili looking the fresher fighter, despite the damage to his face and the nasty body kick to end round three. Merab went after yet another takedown, but Yan reversed. Dvalishvili defensed a takedown with a guillotine, and after something of a struggle, Yan was able to pull free. Merab was back up however, and landing a punch in the clinch while absorbing a knee. Petr Yan’s takedown defense continued to be the story in round four. Despite Dvalishvili stringing together takedown attempt after takedown attempt, Yan rarely went down, and refused to stay down. With two minutes on the clock, Yan appeared to hurt Merab again, and dug the body. He’d target it again with a kick. A left to the body staggered Dvalishvili, but he then surged forward.

Feeling himself, Yan broke out a spinning back fist in the final minute. He headed to round five almost certainly up on the scorecards.

Petr Yan fired a pair of side kicks to the leg to start the final frame. Yan would also target the body again, with a hook this time. His hands had not failed him, nor had his takedown defense. The champ was bloodied and three minutes away from losing his title. With two minutes to go, it was Yan in on a takedown, fought off ultimately. Dvalishvili then considered a guillotine, didn’t have it, and was taken down, albeit he was immediately back to his feet. Yet another body kick landed for Yan, with Dvalishvili noticeably pained.

There was no Hail Mary for Merab Dvalishvili; instead, Petr Yan landed one final takedown of his own. Unquestionably the best anyone had looked against Merab in years, and enough to reclaim the UFC bantamweight title.

Official Result: Petr Yan def. Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)

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With the exception of some non-U.S. markets, Pay-Per-View will be gone once the UFC switches over to Paramount+ in 2026. But there was one last big show to be had on Saturday, with both the bantamweight and flyweight titles on the line.

In the main event, Merab Dvalishvili was looking to make history. The Georgian known as “The Machine” had already defended his title three times in 2025, against Sean O’Malley, Cory Sandhagen, and Umar Nurmagomedov. Now, he was booked into a rematch with Petr Yan, looking to become the first UFC champion to successfully defend his belt four times in a calendar year.

Should he pull off such a feat, combined with his 14-fight win streak (which would then move to 15), Dvalishvili would almost certainly be at the top of the list for best bantamweight ever, surpassing the likes of Dominick Cruz, Aljamain Sterling, and Renan Barao among others.

Alexandre Pantoja was far back of Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in terms of title defenses, but the UFC’s current flyweight champ was steadily establishing his own legacy, and looking for a fifth title defense of his own against young star Joshua Van.

Following UFC 323 on Saturday, tune in for the post-fight press conference above.

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The promotion’s bantamweight champion, in the midst of a 14-fight win streak, is looking to become the first champ to defend a UFC title four times in a calendar year. Standing in his way, Petr Yan, a former champion himself in the weight class, one who Dvalishvili defeated on his way to claiming gold at 135lbs.

The final Pay-Per-View event of the UFC’s ESPN era sees a second title fight as its co-headliner, as Alexandre Pantoja looks to move past young upstart Joshua Van.

Weigh-ins for UFC 323 take place on Friday, December 5, 2025 kicking off at 12PM ET, 9AM PT. Results can be found below.

UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs. Yan 2 Weigh-In Results

Main card
Bantamweight: Merab Dvalishvili (c) (135) vs. Petr Yan (135) – for the UFC bantamweight championship
Flyweight: Alexandre Pantoja (c) (125) vs. Joshua Van (124.5) – for the UFC flyweight championship
Flyweight: Brandon Moreno (125) vs. Tatsuro Taira (126)
Bantamweight: Henry Cejudo (136) vs. Payton Talbott (136)
Light Heavyweight: Jan Błachowicz (206) vs. Bogdan Guskov (206)

Preliminary card 

Lightweight: Grant Dawson (156) vs. Manuel Torres (156)
Lightweight: Terrance McKinney (156) vs. Chris Duncan (156)
Women’s Flyweight: Maycee Barber (125.5) vs. Karine Silva (125.5)
Lightweight: Nazim Sadykhov (155.5) vs. Farès Ziam (156)

Early preliminary card 

Middleweight: Marvin Vettori (186) vs. Brunno Ferreira (189)*
Lightweight: Edson Barboza (155.5) vs. Jalin Turner (155)
Light Heavyweight: Iwo Baraniewski (206) vs. İbo Aslan (205.5)
Middleweight: Mansur Abdul-Malik (185.5) vs. Antonio Trócoli (186)
Featherweight: Muhammad Naimov (146) vs. Mairon Santos (147.5)**

* Ferreira weighed in 3lbs over the non-title middleweight limit, fined 20% of his purse, fight moves forward at a catchweight

** Santos weighed in 1.5lbs over the featherweight limit, fined 20% of his purse, fight moves forward at a catchweight

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Once viewed as the division’s most ruthless technician, Yan now enters Las Vegas hungry to prove he remains the true standard at 135 pounds, not just a former champion, but the rightful No. 1 contender.

“There’s no question about the fact that Merab is a great warrior. He showed with his fights that he is a deserving champion, that he deserves to be where he’s at, but I also want to say that with my fights and with my performances I showed that there is no other clear #1 contender,” Yan told reporters through a translator on Wednesday.

“I deserve to be #1 contender, and I’m ready and able to fight for this title.”

For Yan (19-5) that familiarity cuts both ways heading into Saturday. Yan believes the advantage lies with him, pointing to previous rematches in his career as proof that he levels up the second time around.

“We have a lot of information that we’ve downloaded about each other. We know each other better, but if you look at my first two rematches (Magomed) Magomedov and (Aljamain) Sterling that you could see that I was 100% better in the second fight. I’m determined to make sure that I’m much better in the second fight against Merab,” he said.

Yan enters UFC 323 with a chip on his shoulder and a familiar rival in front of him, looking to reclaim a position he once held atop the bantamweight division.

“This is a way more important fight for myself, for the entire team, for everybody who’s with me,” said Yan.

“It’s important for me to come back and to really show what I can do.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Petr Yan above. He challenges Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title at UFC 323 on Saturday night.

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Dvalishvili (21-4) will face Petr Yan (19-5) for the second time at UFC 323, the final PPV of the year, and of the ESPN era. That main event fight will be joined by Alexandre Pantoja (30-5) versus Joshua Van (15-2) for the flyweight title, which serves as co-headliner.

The historic part of the main event, however, is Dvalishvili defending a belt for the fourth time in a calendar year. No other champion has had that many title fights in such a short span; Merab, however, is very much living up to his nickname of “The Machine.”

UFC President and CEO Dana White announced the match-ups on Monday. Dvalishvili was on air on The Ariel Helwani Show when he learned of the booking.

Dvalishvili has already defeated Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean O’Malley, and Cory Sandhagen in 2025. Immediately after a dominant win over Sandhagen with 20 takedowns landed, the Georgian star expressed a desire to fight once more this year and claim the record.

The Sandhagen victory also saw Dvalishvili tie the UFC record for most successful title defenses, meaning he can take ownership outright should he defeat Yan for the second time.

The pair first met in 2023, with Dvalishvili earning a unanimous decision victory over the Russian, himself a former UFC bantamweight champ. Since then, Yan has won three straight fights, most recently picking up a decision win over Marcus McGhee in July.

As for Pantoja vs. Van, that fight was firmed up when the pair faced off after UFC 317. Pantoja successfully defended his flyweight title for the fourth time by submitting Kai Kara-Franace that night. Joshua Van has won five straight fights, most recently getting the better of Brandon Royval.

UFC 323 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 6, 2025. The following match-ups have been reported for the event:

• Merab Dvalishvili (c) vs. Petr Yan – for the UFC bantamweight championship
• Alexandre Pantoja (c) vs. Joshua Van – for the UFC flyweight championship
• Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott
• Jan Błachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov
• Marvin Vettori vs. Brunno Ferreira
• Brandon Moreno vs. Tatsuro Taira
• Maycee Barber vs. Karine Silva
• Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Antonio Trócoli
• Terrance McKinney vs. Chris Duncan

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The rest of the card was strong, as it featured fan favourites Petr Yan, Shara “Bullet” Magomedov and more intriguing matchups between ranked fighters. As usual, it’s now time for some matchmaking.

Reinier de Ridder

Despite nearly getting knocked out in round 3, RDR managed to come out of this slugfest with a razor thin split decision victory. They don’t ask you how, they ask you how many, and the Dutch fighter has now successfully pushed his UFC record to 4-0 and will enter the middleweight top five. In other divisions, this run would get de Ridder a title shot, but I think there’s a much better chance that the winner of Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho will fight for the title next.

Reinier has been vocal about wanting to stay active and has kept his word thus far with four fights in his first nine months in the promotion. Assuming he’ll want to keep his activity levels up, he won’t wait several months for his own title shot. Israel Adesanya might be an option, but I prefer the idea of RDR against the loser of the upcoming middleweight title fight. Whether it’s Dricus Du Plessis or Khamzat Chimaev, either of them clashing with de Ridder sounds like a blast.

de Ridder’s next fight: Du Plessis/Chimaev loser

Petr Yan

Seemingly unable to find a dance partner in the top 10 for the UFC Abu Dhabi card, the promotion called upon 12^th-ranked Marcus McGhee to face “No Mercy”. And while McGhee had a very respectable showing, Yan showed why he’s still seen as one of the most skilled fighters on the planet. After going on one of the most puzzling and unexpected three-fight losing streak in recent memory, the former champion has now clawed his way back to a three-fight win streak with a potential title shot on the horizon.

Yes, Merab Dvalishvili’s win over Yan was dominant when they met, but that shouldn’t disqualify the Russian from being granted the title shot he has now rightfully earned. Additionally, who has a better case than Yan, right now? Let’s not overthink this. Give this man the opportunity to earn back the belt he once held.

Yan’s next fight: Dvalishvili/Sandhagen winner

Shara Magomedov

It wasn’t easy, but the pirate got his hand raised again after suffering his first career loss to Michael “Venom” Page back in February. Despite his popularity, I think the UFC is aware of Magomedov’s limitations as a fighter and are under no impression that he has “future champion” written all over him. So why not use his popularity to boost someone else? I would have quite enjoyed the idea of booking against the young bazooka that is Ateba Gautier, but Gautier is already booked against for October 4^th. So this got me thinking, wouldn’t Shara Bullet be the perfect opponent for Bo Nickal to get back in the win column? Shara has a high profile and is vulnerable in ways that Nickal can realistically exploit. Sounds like a perfect Pay-Per-View main card opener for UFC 321, to me…

Magomedov’s next fight: Bo Nickal

Asu Almabayev

After getting overwhelmed by Manel Kape’s speed (and eye pokes) in March, Almabayev was looking to bounce back against the youngster José Ochoa, who was filling in on short notice for Ramazan Temirov, at UFC Abu Dhabi. The Kazakh fighter defended his ranking by earning a clean unanimous decision victory. Historically, flyweight has always been a pretty wide-open division, meaning contenders can get booked in unpredictable ways. For that reason, there are about nine names I could realistically see Almabayev fight next. My first choice would be Tagir Ulanbekov. For as important as this win may have been for Almabayev, it wasn’t exactly something that will skyrocket him into the top5, and Ulanbekov deserves a top10 opponent.

Almabayev’s next fight: Tagir Ulanbekov

Bogdan Guskov

After dropping his promotional debut against Volkan Oezdemir on short notice, as of UFC Abu Dhabi, Guskov has now won four fights in a row and might be in the division’s top 10 when the updated rankings come out. Carlos Ulberg, Jan Blachowicz, Jamahal Hill, Dominick Reyes are all names that Guskov could call out without sounding outlandish. However, I much prefer the idea of Ulberg fighting Reyes and Blachowicz fighting Hill, which would leave Guskov as the odd man out in this equation. I know Dustin Jacoby voiced his interest in fighting Guskov on social media, but there’s a fight going down in Shanghai in less than a month between Johnny Walker and Zhang Mingyang. I think Guskov against the winner of that matchup would make a lot of sense considering he has already been booked against Walker before and where Zhang would be if he comes out on top.

Guskov’s next fight: Walker/Zhang winner

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