Volkanovski Targets Historic Win Against Evloev at UFC 333

Alexander Volkanovski will defend his UFC featherweight championship against undefeated Russian contender Movsar Evloev at UFC 333 on October 24 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, in a matchup that could reshape the division's historical rankings. The Australian champion enters the five-round main event with a 28-4 record, while Evloev brings an unblemished 20-0 record and an opportunity to claim his first UFC title.

According to Sherdog, Volkanovski believes he can produce one of the best performances of his career and finish a challenger who has won all 10 of his UFC fights by decision. The champion has questioned whether Evloev can control him on the ground for the full 25 minutes.

Volkanovski also outlined what he expects from the contest in an interview with MMA Junkie.

"Trying to outgrapple me for 25 minutes, I can’t see it," Volkanovski told MMA Junkie. "I believe that the only chance that any of these guys have is for them to catch me… If he thinks he can beat me by decision or he thinks he can outgrapple me, I’m sure he’s gonna try, we’ll see. I’m just very confident in my skills and the fighter I still am… I think I can do it in pretty wild fashion.

I believe I can get a finish. I believe I can do it inside five… A lot of people are going to go say after this fight, ‘Is that the best Volk we've ever seen?’"

Volkanovski first captured the championship against Max Holloway in 2019 and recorded five successful defenses before losing to Ilia Topuria in 2024. He returned to the top by defeating Diego Lopes for the vacant title last year after Topuria moved to lightweight, then beat Lopes again in a January rematch.

The upcoming fight also carries historical significance because of the debate over whether Volkanovski can surpass former champion José Aldo as the greatest featherweight in UFC history. An October 19 roundtable published by MMA Fighting featured differing views on how a victory over Evloev would affect that discussion.

Alexander K. Lee argued that defeating the undefeated contender would represent another extraordinary achievement for Volkanovski, particularly given his age and second championship reign. Mike Heck said a win would settle the debate in Volkanovski's favor, while Jed Meshew maintained that Aldo's championship record would remain central to the comparison.

Meshew highlighted the difference between their title-winning records and the significance of sustained dominance.

"Aldo has more title wins, and title wins are what matter in GOAT conversations. Right now, it’s 8 to 11, and that feels clear to me. But if Volk beats Movsar, he’s up to 9, and that’s close enough for it to be a real conversation at that point.

But I still think it will be a conversation. Aldo’s 11 title wins came almost entirely consecutively (10 in a row, and then re-winning the belt after Conor McGregor), while Volk’s have come in a split. I’m still not entirely sure how to gauge that, because Aldo was the best featherweight for nearly a decade, while during some of Volk’s reign he’s been the best featherweight, because Ilia Topuria let him be.

Does that matter? I honestly don’t know. What I know for certain, though, is that if Volk wins on Saturday, it will be a remarkable accomplishment.

Very, very, very few fighters ever beat the best of three generations. Great fighters beat their generation; Hall of Famers beat two generations; but only true all-time greats beat the generation before they came, their generation, and the generation after them. Beating Diego Lopes is an accomplishment (though I’m not really sure beating him the second time counts for a whole lot), but Diego was never the best non-Topuria featherweight.

Movsar undeniably is. If Volk beats him, it’s a historic win, and if you want to call him the GOAT, I won’t argue the point," Meshew wrote in MMA Fighting.

UFC 333 will also feature a third meeting between bantamweight champion Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili. The co-main event offers both fighters another opportunity to strengthen their claims among the division's all-time greats, although MMA Fighting's panel disagreed over whether the winner would definitively earn that distinction.

Lee argued that winning the rivalry would establish the victor as the division's best, while Heck continued to favor Dominick Cruz based on his overall record. The discussion also considered Yan's earlier three-fight losing streak, which included a defeat to Dvalishvili, and the championship-level performances that followed.

The 14-fight event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, according to Yahoo Sports. UFC's first Embedded episode also documented preparations for the card, including Dvalishvili spending time with his team, Volkanovski sparring with Colby Thicknesse, and Evloev continuing his training camp in Abu Dhabi.