UFC 333 carries two world titles into Etihad Arena on Saturday. Lower on the main card, American veteran Grant Dawson meets unbeaten Tajikistani lightweight Nurullo Aliev in a bout both fighters see as a direct path up the rankings.
Two title fights headline a stacked card
UFC 333: Volkanovski vs. Evloev takes place Saturday, October 24, at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Alexander Volkanovski defends the featherweight title against undefeated Movsar Evloev, who carries a 20-0 pro record, 10-0 inside the UFC, all by decision. Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili meet for a third time with the bantamweight title on the line. Further down the main card, Grant Dawson faces Nurullo Aliev at lightweight (155 pounds, 70 kilograms), a division the UFC itself describes as one of the hardest in the promotion to break into.
Dawson: respect for a rising threat, confidence in his own game
Dawson carries a 24-3-1 pro record, with a 12-2-1 mark inside the UFC, and is coming off a submission win over Mateusz Rebecki at UFC 328, following earlier wins over Jared Gordon and Carlos Diego Ferreira. By his own account, Saturday marks his fourth UFC fight against an undefeated opponent. He does not downplay Aliev’s talent. “This kid’s good, and he’s young,” Dawson said, adding that he is “glad” to get Aliev now rather than “three years from now,” when he expects the Tajik prospect to be even further along. “There will be a Saturday where he’s a better fighter than I am,” he admitted.
Dawson said he has a wrestling-based game plan for Saturday and believes Aliev will be “surprised at how good I can also wrestle,” with a backup plan to simply “bite down on my mouthpiece and see who’s tougher” if the first approach stalls. He called himself “undefeated against undefeated guys” throughout his UFC run, and argued that a win over Aliev will only look better for him over time: “I do think that a big win over him, I think he’ll go on to have a very, very good UFC career, so that just makes me look a lot better,” he said.
Aliev: the first Tajikistani fighter in the UFC
Aliev holds a 12-0 pro record, 4-0 inside the UFC, and is the first fighter from Tajikistan to compete in the promotion. He earned his contract through Dana White’s Contender Series in September 2022, and both of his professional finishes have come by TKO. His most recent win, a decision over Mike Davis in July, also came in Abu Dhabi, a four-hour flight from home rather than the 12-hour time difference he would face traveling to Las Vegas. The UFC says fans and restaurants back home stay open late into the night for his fights. He says he wants to use Saturday’s platform to showcase his striking rather than his wrestling, with the goal of finishing the fight early.
Aliev framed Saturday in ranking terms: “Me and Grant Dawson with ranking top 15,” he said, adding that Dawson is his “only focus” right now. “Grant Dawson is a good fighter. I’m ready. This is MMA,” he said. “My plan is to win this fight, then top 10, then top five, then title,” he added, describing himself simply as “a mountain guy.”
What a win means next
Neither man currently sits in the lightweight top 15, but both describe Saturday as a step toward it. Dawson, according to American outlets covering the bout, has struggled for several fights to land a ranked opponent despite a strong run of results, and a win over a prospect as regarded as Aliev would give him the signature victory he has been missing. For Aliev, the equation runs the other way: a win would confirm his Contender Series pedigree against a durable veteran used to grinding out close, hard-fought decisions, and back up his own stated plan to climb from the top 15 toward the top 10 and top five.
How to watch
Early prelims start at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT), prelims follow at noon ET (9 a.m. PT), and the main card begins at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT). That puts the main card at 7 p.m. in the United Kingdom and 8 p.m. in Central Europe. The event streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the United States. Full fight-week coverage, including the complete UFC 333 card, is available on our UFC tonight and UFC schedule 2026 pages, with the latest lightweight standings on our UFC rankings page.
