Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC Adam Guillen Mon, October 26, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC · 3 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement UFC 333 blew the roof off Etihad Arena last Saturday (Oct. 24, 2026) in Abud Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was Merab Dvalishvili , who was unable to re-claim the UFC bantamweight title after getting out-classed by division king, Petr Yan ( see it here ).
And Ramazan Temirov , who was knocked out by Lone'er Kavanagh in the very first round ( highlights here ). And let's not forget about Losene Keita , who was also stopped in the opening frame by former Bellator MMA standout, Aaron Pico ( highlights ). But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Coming into his headlining title fight against featherweight kingpin, Alexander Volkanovski , Evloev was as motivated as ever to prove that he is the best 145-pound fighter on the planet and the uncrowned champion. He worked his way up to a title fight, and it was not easy, defeating a murderers row of contenders which includes Diego Lopes , Aljamain Sterling , Arnold Allen and Lerone Murphy .
Unfortunately for the Russian bomber, he fell flat when it counted the most.
To be fair, Evloev showed that he was going to have the size and strength advantage early on, maneuvering the champion up against the cage in the early exchanges. But once Volk started building up a sweat and getting his rhythm, he started to take over the fight.
In round two, "The Great" started to get his licks in a bit cleaner, which bother the taller man. After connecting with a nice uppercut, it was the beginning of the end of for the challenger, as Volkanosvksi pounced and beat on him until the referee stepped in to put an end to the punishment .
It's a tough blow for Evloev, who suffered the first loss of his career after starting off at 20-0, 10-0 UFC. The fact that he didn't make the fight competitive won't do him any favors when it comes time to consider him for another championship fight. And that is going to be a tough pill for him to swallow because if it took him so long to get his shot after putting in so much work, his next go-around is going to be a bit tougher.
"Alhamdulillah for everything. Today wasn't my day. Everything is written by Allah, and I accept whatever He has planned for me," wrote Evloev on social media shortly after the fight. "Congratulations to Volk. He was the better man today. Thank you to the UFC for giving me the opportunity to fight for the title, and to all my fans."
As far as who he should face in his first attempt to get back into the win column, perhaps a showdown against someone like Youseff Zalal might be in order Zalal was last seen losing to the aforementioned Aljamain Sterling , which snapped his eight-fight win streak. Zalal — ranked No. 9 — is in the same boat as Evloev as far as needing a big win before his ship starts to sink a bit faster.
For complete UFC 333 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE .
Source: Sports
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