For the 24th time since the Octagon first touched down in 2010, UFC will promote an event in the city of Abu Dhabi on Saturday as UFC 333 emanates from Etihad Arena in the U.A.E.

A pair of title bouts will top the marquee, including a featherweight title showdown in the main event as Alexander Volkanovski looks for the second defense of his second title reign when he welcomes unbeaten Movsar Evloev. In the co-headliner, Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili meet for a third time as Yan sets to defend his bantamweight title after regaining it in December. 

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As we draw closer to this weekend's numbered event, let's take a look at the biggest storylines surrounding UFC 333. 

1. Let us never cease to appreciate Alexander "The Great" Volkanovski

One month after his 38th birthday, the Australian legend remains one of the sport's pound-for-pound best as he looks to pass featherweight legend Jose Aldo's record for the most title wins (while equaling his title defense total) in 145-pound history. Volkanovski, who enters the second title defense of his second reign, has already authored one of the greatest and most successful careers in MMA history after winning his first 12 walks to the Octagon and scoring resounding wins over Chad Mendes, Aldo, Max Holloway (three times), Brian Ortega, Yair Rodriguez and Diego Lopes (twice). But it's his overall longevity and the manner in which he bounced back from consecutive knockout losses to pound-for-pound greats Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria in recent years, only to regain the featherweight crown, that have raised his legend to another level. Volkanovski's meeting with the 20-0 Evloev is basically a betting pick 'em and it's uncertain how much longer the former 214-pound rugby league player can remain atop the featherweight throne. But it remains a joy to watch Volkanovski, who just so happens to have a key acting role in the "Street Fighter" movie that's currently in theaters, and continues to redefine what a fighter in the lower weight divisions can do after turning 35 thanks to his footwork, IQ and adaptability. 

2. Movsar Evloev took the long road to the top of the featherweight division

The path to a title shot at the highest levels of the sport of MMA is anything but an exact science and can vary from fighter to fighter depending upon their marketability, fighting style or the depth of their division. For every Josh Hokit, who will compete for the UFC heavyweight title in November just three years after turning pro, there's Evloev, who after 12 years and 20 pro fights will finally get a chance at fulfilling his dream of becoming champion. With a record of 20-0, including wins in all 10 UFC fights dating back to his 2019 debut, Evloev's journey is atypical because of how long he has had to wait. Injuries, illnesses and canceled fights have also been part of the delay for the 32-year-old native of Russia. But even after consecutive wins over Dan Ige, Diego Lopes, Arnold Allen and former 135-pound champion Aljamain Sterling, Evloev still had to wait and watch Lopes fight for the title twice before he ever received his call. Evloev also needed one more victory to secure his spot, which came in March against fellow unbeaten Lerone Murphy -- in his opponent's backyard of London, no less -- when the grappling-heavy Evloev fought back against criticism that he's too boring by striking with Murphy in an exciting majority decision win. Evloev's patience has paid off. And the time spent enduring has also made him a better fighter. And by the way, Evloev's discipline has become so legendary that he has sworn off refined sugars of any kind for a span that has now reached three full years and won't end until he finally wears UFC gold.

3. Petr Yan 2.0 is a scary proposition at bantamweight

Raise your hand if you gave up in 2023, when Yan suffered his third consecutive defeat in a decision loss to Dvalishvili, on the idea that the Russian-born former champion was still a threat to the 135-pound title? Sadly, most of us did, too. After a 15-1 start to his career, which included a fifth-round TKO win over Aldo in 2020 to win the vacant UFC bantamweight title, Yan looked like the long-term future of the division thanks to his well-rounded skill set and defiant mean streak. But in hindsight, the four losses he would suffer over his next five fights, with each one coming against elite competition, were a bit deceptive. Yan, now 33, lost his title to Sterling by disqualification in a fight he was winning. He then lost both the rematch and a fight against Sean O'Malley via split decision before taking the first meeting against Dvalishvili with an injured right hand. But after taking a full year off to heal, Yan has returned a determined force. His current four-fight win streak, which includes an upset of Dvalishvili in December to regain the title, has seen him raise his game considerably. In Yan's 2023 loss to "The Machine," he was taken down 11 times by Dvalishvili and only recorded one takedown of his own. That number swung to five takedowns for Yan in the rematch (the most Dvalishvili has yielded in a UFC bout) to just two for Merab, both of which saw Yan quickly return to his feet. Now a two-time champion, Yan is older, wiser and more battle-tested than ever before as he enters the trilogy bout as the betting favorite. 

4. Does Merab Dvalishvili have enough offensive weapons to regain the title? 

This is a question that few of us saw coming in 2025, when Dvalishvili extended his incredible win streak to 14 fights as he aimed to set a UFC record by defending a title four times in a calendar year. Dvalishvili, who took the Yan rematch just two months after he broke another UFC record by recording 20 takedowns in a decision win over Cory Sandhagen, said he doesn't regret being so ambitious, even if it led to him losing his title. But the bigger question facing him in Saturday's trilogy bout is whether his style was completely solved by Yan in December. Dvalishvili had built so much of his success upon his other-worldly cardio and his relentless ability to spam takedowns in order to control the terms of his fights. Yes, Dvalishvili also improved his striking along the way, which was evidenced in a 2022 win over Aldo in which all 16 of his takedown attempts were stuffed by the Brazilian legend. But his rematch with Yan showed what could happen if someone could both neutralize Dvalishvili's ground attack and prove they could hang with him in terms of pace and aggression. Once that was established, the difference in striking between the two fighters became the story of the fight. And even though Dvalishvili enters their trilogy following a 10-month layoff, which is atypical for someone as active as he normally is, the jury remains out as to whether he can bring enough offensive variety and threat to commandeer his title back from Yan and officially win their rivalry. 

5. Alexander Volkov's heavyweight title hopes likely rest upon a win over Rizvan Kuniev

In the moments after Volkov lost a highly disputed split decision to Ciryl Gane in their December 2024 rematch, in a fight that almost no one believed Gane had won, UFC CEO and president Dana White could be heard on camera telling the 6-foot-7 Russian that the promotion would make it up to him. A little less than two years later, Gane is booked to make his first heavyweight title defense against the upstart Hokit at UFC 334 in November, which caused the normally mild-mannered Volkov to speak out a bit publicly about his belief that he was passed over. The 2024 Gane rematch remains Volkov's lone defeat in his last seven fights and he has remained perfect since that point, scoring consecutive decision wins over Jailton Almeida and Waldo Cortes-Acosta. But the larger turmoil surrounding the heavyweight division, which included both Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall vacating the title amid former two-division champion Alex Pereira moving up in weight, kept getting in the way of Volkov's hopes and plans. But Volkov, who turns 38 on Saturday, finds himself in a position as a slight betting favorite against countryman Rizvan Kuniev, where his future is likely in his own hands. An impressive victory could make Volkov undeniable for the shot at the winner of Gane-Hokit.