What’s Next: UFC 333 Losers
UFC 333 had a scenic backdrop of the UAE’s Abu Dhabi for the promotion’s 24th event in the city. Two title fights graced the card including Alexander Volkanovksi defending his featherweight strap against an undefeated Movsar Evloev. And in the co-main event, the trilogy was settled between two bantamweights with some awesome nicknames, as ‘The Machine’ looked to recapture his belt from ‘No Mercy’. Some great fights and finishes on the five-fight main card of this one, which should produce some intriguing high-ranking matchups in the coming months.
Movsar Evloev
(CHP) Alexander Volkanovski put on another phenomenal performance in the main event of UFC 333 on Saturday, braving a close first round to get the textbook TKO finish over (#1) Movsar Evloev, in the second. The loss was the first of Evloev’s 21-fight professional career. The Russian is now 10-1 under the UFC banner since being signed in 2019.
Movsar’s next fight should be against another killer. A fight with Jean Silva, not only a good matchup, but one that has a very real chance of materializing. Volk could very well engage in a super fight or retire soon. Silva is 7-1 with the UFC since coming off the 2023 season of the Contender Series. His only loss came against multiple time title challenger, Diego Lopes in September of 2025.
Silva’s defeated Arnold Allen and Jose Delgado (who filled in for an injured Yair Rodrigez) in September. So, the timing would be okay as well. This fight could easily be a main event of a fight night, as long as Evloev didn’t come away from the fight with any lasting damage. Give the 32-year-old a path back towards the belt.
Evloev’s next fight: (#5) Jean Silva
Merab Dvalishvili
(CHP) Petr Yan retained his title in another instant classic opposite of his all too familiar foe, (#1) Merab Dvalishvili by way of unanimous decision. The result wins Yan the pair’s trilogy as well. Merab is now 14-4 with the UFC. He’s lost two in a row after losing his belt to Yan last year which snapped a 14-fight win streak for Merab.
As for Merab’s next opponent, he’s faced practically everyone in the top 5 as he cleared out the ranks holding the belt. Giving him so fresh blood here would be ideal. There are a couple of paths here for matchmaking Merab as he is turning 36 in a few months. Mario Bautista is a very deserving name within the bantamweight division that presents an interesting matchup. Bautista is 12-3 with the UFC and has won 10 of his last 11 bouts dating back to 2021. His one loss in the time period came just two bouts ago, opposite of top-ranked, Umar Nurmagomedov. Since then, Mario has stopped Vinicius Oliveira and defeated Cory Sandhagen via unanimous decision. Only issue with this potential matchup is the timing, as Bautista fought Cory back in mid-July.
A decent backup and a wild matchup here would be against a fighter like Payton Talbott. Payton is 6-1 since coming off the Contender Series in 2023. He’s got a lot of hype behind him despite his 2025 loss to Raoni Barcelos. Since that loss, Payton has steamrolled Felipe Lima and two former UFC champions in Henry Cejudo and his first-round finish of Deiveson Figueiredo earlier this month. Interesting younger rising fighter vs. the grizzled veteran matchup, that’d work better timing-wise.
Dvalishvili’s next fight: (#5) Mario Bautista or (#11) Payton Talbott
Ramazan Temirov
(#6) Lone’er Kavanagh smoked his opponent, (#7) Ramzan Temirov at the end of a very competitive first round with some perfectly placed punches. This fight was the largest UFC stage that Ramazan has been on to date, so the result has got to sting for the 29-year-old. Temirov is now 3-1 with the UFC and 20-3 as a pro. Ramazan had not lost since 2019.
Ramazan’s next fight should be against the loser of Asu Almabayev vs. Kyoji Horiguchi. That fight is scheduled for November 21st, so timing would be great. Asu is 7-1 with the UFC with his only loss coming somewhat controversially to Manel Kape in March of 2025. He’s defeated Jose Ochoa and stopped Alex Perez and Charles Johnson in the three fights since.
Horiguchi has a 9-2 record in his two stints with the UFC. In his current stint with the UFC he’s gone 2-1. Kyoji stopped Tagir Ulanbekov in late 2025 then defeated Amir Albazi in February. Most recently, Kyoji was stopped by Manel Kape.
Either fighter would offer an excellent and edge-of-your seat potential matchup with Ramazan Temirov.
Temirov’s next fight: (#5) Asu Almabayev vs. (#8) Kyoji Horiguchi loser
Rizvan Kuniev
(#4) Alexander Volkov cruised to a unanimous decision victory over (#5) Rizvan Kuniev, threatening his former training partner with a submission attempt late in the fight. Kuniev, who appeared twice on the Contender Series (2021, 2024), is now 2-2 with the promotion. This loss snapped a two-fight win streak (Jaliton Almeida and Tyrell Fortune)
This pick will be going back on an older article’s pick as it’s not that that selection couldn’t work, more so that there are better options available. Rizvan’s next fight should be against Waldo Cortez-Acosta. Waldo is currently riding a two-fight losing streak having lost to Alexander Volkov and most recently, Curtis Blaydes, last month. So, the timing would be okay here, and common opponents and outcomes. Waldo is 10-4 with the promotion since coming off the Contender Series in 2022.
Backup matchup here for Rizvan would be against the rising Mario Pinto. Mario is a 13-0, 2024 Contender Series product that has stopped all but one of his four UFC opponents thus far. Pinto was last in the cage against Ryan Spann last month.
Kuniev’s next fight: (#8) Waldo Cortez Acosta or (#10) Mario Pinto
Losene Keita
(#14) Aaron Pico delivered his first KO in the UFC to open the main card of UFC 333, smoking Losene Keita in 74 second with a devastating right cross. Keita is now 1-2 with the UFC, not including his scraped planned 2025 promotional debut where he came in overweight at 149lbs. for a fight with Patrico Pitbull. Keita has had a couple of opportunities slip through his fingers now, as his other loss came in his debut via split decision to Nathaniel Wood.
Losene’s next fight should be against Doo-Ho Choi. Doo-Ho last fought on UFC 331 and was matched up against William Gomis in a previous article. This matchup would fit a lot better than that one for Choi. Doo-Ho is 6-4-1 with the UFC since 2014 and is a guaranteed Fight of the Night type of fighter. Most recently Doo-Ho had his four-fight unbeaten streak snapped by Patricio Pitbull. Patricio stopped Choi in the first round. This round be an excellent matchup for the UFC to look at considering Keita was matched up against Pitbull for his debut. Timing works, both were finished. Guaranteed entertaining main card matchup.
Losene’s next fight: Doo-Ho Choi
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