It was a violent night in Abu Dhabi, but only one fighter was hospitalized as a result.

The MMA leader staged its latest numbered event in the Middle East on Saturday, with UFC 333 taking place at the Etihad Arena.

Alexander Volkanovski and Petr Yan were the standout winners, with both men successfully defending their titles in the headliners.

Among the other victors was heavyweight Alexander Volkov, who did enough damage across three rounds despite not getting the finish to put Rizvan Kuniev in hospital.

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Rizvan Kuniev was the only UFC 333 fighter transported to hospital in Abu Dhabi

Volkov was denied the next heavyweight title shot after the promotion decided to instead have Josh Hokit challenge Ciryl Gane at UFC 335 in November.

The Russian staked his claim for a shot against the winner in 2027 by getting the better of his fellow countryman on October 24.

Following the unanimous decision defeat, it was not straight back to the fighter hotel for Kuniev.

Despite seven fighters on the card getting finished, six of whom suffered violent knockouts, only the No. 5-ranked heavyweight was sent to hospital by UFC officials in Abu Dhabi.

That was confirmed to MMA Mania, which is reporting that Kuniev was hospitalized for x-rays on his legs, which were heavily kicked by ‘Drago’ during the course of their 15-minute contest on Saturday’s main card.

The severity of Kuniev’s potential injury and the results of his scans remain unknown.

The defeat marked Kuniev’s second setback in the UFC. His first came in June 2025 against another heavyweight veteran in Curtis Blaydes.

Wins over Jailton Almeida and Tyrell Fortune had put the Russian back on course, but he will now need to perform a similar bounce-back to put his name into title contention down the line.