AND STILL: Volkanovski and Yan Rule After UFC 333

Both UFC 333 titles stayed put in Abu Dhabi, and both champions already have a next move in mind.

"Give me Song Yadong, give me King Kong! Give me anybody!"

Petr Yan said it in the cage, minutes after closing out his trilogy. It was not a callout. It was an open door.

Both UFC 333 titles stayed with their champions on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Alexander Volkanovski stopped Movsar Evloev. Petr Yan outlasted Merab Dvalishvili. The belts did not move. The questions around them did.

Volkanovski's Dream Ending

Volkanovski beat Evloev by TKO at 4:54 of round two, referee Marc Goddard stepping in as the champion poured on punches. He moves to 29-4. Evloev falls to 20-1, his first loss. The win is Volkanovski's ninth UFC featherweight title win, the most in the division's history.

The champion already has a dream for what comes after that record. During UFC 333 fight week he pitched a champion-versus-champion superfight with lightweight champion Justin Gaethje — a fight where both men would vacate their belts and retire afterward.

The Pitch, In His Words

"I know Gaethje doesn't really know what he wants to do," Volkanovski said, speaking to MMA Junkie. "Well, maybe if you do one more, I can do that with you, and then we go out there, have our super fight, and then vacate the belts after and retire."

"The divisions can sort themselves out while we have our little fairytale super fight ending and sail off into the sunset."

Not Necessarily Next

He was careful with the pitch, too. The retirement fight does not have to be next. "I even mentioned being like a retirement fight, and a lot of people are acting like I meant the next fight needs to be the retirement fight. It doesn't," he said.

Gaethje, for his part, is not in a rush. He became undisputed lightweight champion with a TKO win over Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 in June, and he suffered injuries to both hands in that fight. If he returns, it will not be until 2027.

Or Stay at Featherweight

If the superfight never happens, Volkanovski does not lack for work at 145 pounds. Before UFC 333 he named the two featherweights standing out most to him: Jean Silva and Aljamain Sterling.

"After Movsar, you've got your Jean Silvas, you've got your Aljamain (Sterlings), who are both pretty much in the exact same position," he told MMA Junkie. "They're the ones that stand out the most right now."

Sterling fights Kevin Vallejos on November 21, and the winner of that one walks straight into the conversation. Silva bounced back from his 2025 loss to Diego Lopes with wins over Arnold Allen and Jose Delgado. Either man is a real title fight, not a placeholder.

He Is Not Done Yet

Volkanovski has also been clear he is not done. He said during fight week that he has no plans to retire after this fight. At 38, after a second-round finish of an unbeaten challenger, he took little damage — and that, by his own logic, is exactly why he keeps going.

Yan Wants Anybody

Yan's night was harder. Dvalishvili attacked from the opening seconds, scored takedowns, and kept the champion under pressure. But Yan stuffed the takedowns as the fight wore on, hurt Dvalishvili with a liver kick in the third, and took the last rounds with clean striking. All three judges scored it 48-47 for the champion.

Trilogy Closed

The trilogy is now 2-1 to Yan, and it is closed. Dvalishvili won the first meeting in 2023. Yan has won the last two. There is nothing left for these two to settle.

So Yan opened the floor.

"Listen to me, brother: I'm the champion of this organization; I do not pick fights," he told Daniel Cormier in the cage. "This organization puts the next contender in front of me, and I'm ready to fight with any of them."

"Give me Song Yadong, give me King Kong! Give me anybody! Just make the weight and I will take you down!"

The Names in the Mix

Yadong knocked out Umar Nurmagomedov in August 2026, and Yan already beat Yadong by unanimous decision at UFC 299. Sean O'Malley, who beat Yan at UFC 280 in 2022, is the other name with history — even Dvalishvili himself said before the trilogy that a Yan win would point to O'Malley.

None of it is booked. That is the point of Yan's answer: the UFC picks, and he fights.

The Rest of the Card Matters Too

The main card below the titles reshaped two divisions as well. Alexander Volkov beat Rizvan Kuniev by unanimous decision, 29-28, 30-27, 30-27, and strengthened his case for a heavyweight title shot. He is now 41-11.

Pico's 74 Seconds

Aaron Pico needed just 74 seconds. He stopped Losene Keita by TKO at 1:14 of round one, staggering him with a right cross behind a left jab and finishing on the ground. Pico moves to 15-5 — and he does it in Volkanovski's own division.

So the fallout is not one question, it is three. Does Volkanovski chase the Gaethje fairytale, or defend against Silva or the Sterling-Vallejos winner? Does Yan get Yadong, O'Malley, or someone nobody is naming yet? And does Pico's 74 seconds buy him a fast track at featherweight?

Both champions kept their belts on Saturday. Now comes the fun part: finding out who has to try to take them.