UFC 333: VOLKANOVSKI vs EVLOEV made history at Etihad Arena on Saturday night (October 24), recording the highest attendance and gate for a UFC event in Abu Dhabi.

The sold-out event featured two title fights and attracted thousands of fans, more than half of whom travelled from outside the UAE.

UFC CEO Dana White praised the event’s international appeal and outlined plans to bring more major UFC events to the UAE capital.

“Tonight was the highest attendance for a UFC event in Abu Dhabi history. Highest gate,” White said. “And over 50 per cent of the fans came from outside the UAE.”

“They spent money to come here, flights, hotel rooms, everything. You want to deliver. You want to have an event like we had tonight.”

“I plan to have lots of great events here in Abu Dhabi again.”

White also teased plans for a future event, saying: “We’re working on an event right now that will be very unique and people from all over the world will want to come see. I already started to see renderings of what we could possibly do before I flew to Abu Dhabi. I look forward to announcing that soon.”

Inside the Octagon, Alexander Volkanovski retained his featherweight title with a second-round TKO victory over previously unbeaten Movsar Evloev. Volkanovski stopped the No. 1 contender with punches at 4:54 of the second round, handing Evloev the first defeat of his professional career.

Reflecting on his fifth appearance in Abu Dhabi, Volkanovski said: “Abu Dhabi is always great. This is my fifth time here in Abu Dhabi. I get treated so well over here. Everyone’s very hospitable and they show so much respect. I love it here.”

In the co-main event, Petr Yan defended his bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili, winning their third meeting by unanimous decision after five rounds.

All three judges scored the contest 48-47 in Yan’s favour.

Yan, who first won the bantamweight title against Jose Aldo in Abu Dhabi during UFC Fight Island in 2020, welcomed another victory in the UAE capital.

“I feel excellent. I’m still processing my win, but I feel great and happy to share this moment again in Abu Dhabi,” he said.

“For me, it was important to get this win for my team, for my family and for my supporters. Thank you so much to all the fans around the world for supporting me.”

Elsewhere on the main card, Lone’er Kavanagh defeated Ramazan Temirov by first-round TKO, Alexander Volkov beat Rizvan Kuniev by unanimous decision, and Aaron Pico secured a first-round TKO victory over Losene Keita.

The event concluded another edition of Abu Dhabi Showdown Week, reinforcing the capital’s position as a destination for major international sporting events and mixed martial arts. -TradeArabia News Service