The main event was the coin flip the betting market expected for barely a round. Evloev landed a takedown in the first, but Volkanovski was back on his feet quickly, the scenario he had spent fight week describing, and the champion was the more aggressive man throughout. In the second, he dropped Evloev with a clean left hand and followed up with a barrage of punches until the referee stopped it at 4:54 of the round. Evloev, 20-0 coming in, suffered the first loss of his professional career and offered no excuses afterward. Volkanovski, 38, moves to 29-4 and makes history in the process: the win broke his tie with José Aldo for the most title-fight victories in UFC featherweight history, at nine, and drew him level with Aldo’s record for title defences. He did it, by MMA Mania’s report, while fighting through illness and declining medication. “The old lion is still hungry” was how one fellow fighter summed up the reaction from the sport’s pros, and Volkanovski collected a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus for it.
The co-main event was the fight of the night and may be one of the fights of the year. Dvalishvili won the first two rounds on all three judges’ scorecards, setting the relentless pace that defined his reign. Then Yan found the turning point: a left kick to the body in the third round that visibly slowed the former champion. From there Yan closed the distance, limited Dvalishvili’s options and took each of the final three rounds on every card, winning 48-47 three times. The statistics showed how differently the two men fought it: Yan landed 128 of 228 significant strikes, Dvalishvili 131 of 363. Dvalishvili was gracious afterward, calling Yan the better man. The challengers are already lining up. Song Yadong was in the arena and made it clear he wants the next shot, while Sean O’Malley, the last man to beat Yan, also called him out.
The rest of the main card produced finishes and a clear heavyweight statement. Lone’er Kavanagh stopped Ramazan Temirov with punches at 4:28 of the first round to earn the night’s other Performance of the Night bonus, a result that should push him back toward the flyweight top five. Alexander Volkov, celebrating his 38th birthday, outworked Rizvan Kuniev for a unanimous decision, 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27, showing more aggression than usual in a heavyweight division still reshaping itself after Tom Aspinall vacated the title. And Aaron Pico needed just 74 seconds to stop Losene Keita with punches at featherweight.
The prelims were just as decisive. Dominick Reyes knocked out Azamat Murzakanov with a head kick and punches at 2:40 of the first round, Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev stopped Nikita Krylov in the first, Abus Magomedov submitted Cam Rowston with a guillotine at 1:44 of the first, and Grant Dawson outworked Nurullo Aliev for a unanimous decision, taking the formerly undefeated lightweight’s perfect record.
Abu Dhabi’s annual October stop ended with two champions who answered their biggest questions. Volkanovski proved that the division’s best wrestler could not keep him down, and Yan proved that he could break Dvalishvili’s pace when it mattered most. Both now have new challengers waiting, and the featherweight queue just lost its unbeaten contender. Elsewhere on the calendar, the UFC confirmed that Joshua Van will defend the flyweight title against Manel Kape at UFC 336 in Toronto, where Carlos Prates and Michael Morales will also meet for an interim title.
