Volkanovski vs Evloev Preview: 'The Great' Meets the Unbeaten #1

The UFC 333 main event in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, Oct. 24, is a featherweight title fight with a perfect record on the line. Alexander Volkanovski ("The Great," 28-4), the champion and #2 pound-for-pound, defends against Movsar Evloev, the division's #1 contender at 20-0. The Australian is 38 and made his Octagon debut in October 2016; the Russian is 32 and arrived in April 2019. Something has to give at Etihad Arena: either the champion loses his belt or the challenger loses his zero.

Physically, you'd struggle to split them. Evloev stands 5'7" to Volkanovski's 5'6" and owns a one-inch reach advantage, 72.5 to 71.5. Stylistically, they could hardly be further apart:

• Output: Volkanovski lands 5.99 significant strikes per minute; Evloev lands 3.91.
• Accuracy: 57% for the champion (1,815 of 3,178 in the UFC), 48% for the challenger.
• Damage taken: Volkanovski absorbs 3.31 a minute, Evloev just 2.80, and his 61% striking defense edges the champion's 59%.
• Wrestling: Evloev averages 4.78 takedowns per 15 minutes, nearly three times Volkanovski's 1.63. The champion stops 69% of takedown attempts.
• Power: a 0.30 knockdown average for Volkanovski, 0.00 for Evloev.

The finishing records tell the same story. Volkanovski has 13 knockouts, three submissions and seven first-round finishes, and 46% of his wins have come by KO/TKO. Evloev has three knockouts and four submissions, and 13 of his 20 wins, or 65%, went to the judges. Both are built for long nights, with average fight times of 16:50 for Volkanovski and 16:00 for Evloev. Roughly three-quarters of each man's strikes land at range (76% and 75%), but Evloev does a little more of his damage on the mat: 17% of his significant strikes, compared with 15% for the champion. So it comes down to this: can Evloev put Volkanovski on his back often enough to cancel out a +2.68 striking differential per minute, or will the champion's volume be too much for a man who has never lost?

The early prelims start at 6 p.m. local time, the prelims follow at 8 p.m. and the main card at 10 p.m. Get there early and you'll see the whole night build toward the title fight. Get your seat: Volkanovski vs Evloev tickets.