UFC president Dana White said Abu Dhabi remains one of the most important stops on the promotion's calendar, speaking ahead of UFC 333 at Etihad Arena on Saturday night. "Abu Dhabi is a very special place to us. We always try to deliver here," White told reporters at the pre-fight press conference.
The sold-out card is headlined by featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski against Movsar Evloev, with a bantamweight trilogy bout between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili serving as the co-main event, closing out a rivalry that has spanned several years.
White also reflected on the pandemic-era "Fight Island" series hosted in Abu Dhabi, saying it carved out a permanent place in the organisation's history. He credited those 2020-2021 events, held while most global sport was shut down, with helping the UFC not just survive but expand its business significantly during a period when live sport elsewhere had ground to a halt.
The UFC's relationship with Abu Dhabi dates back to 2009, and the emirate has since hosted dozens of the promotion's events, cementing itself as one of the organisation's most reliable international venues. Asked about free agent lightweight Usman Nurmagomedov, White said the UFC is watching the situation but must wait for an exclusive negotiating window with a rival promotion to expire before any deal can be discussed. He declined to predict outcomes for Saturday's card, saying he preferred to let the fights speak for themselves inside the octagon.
The event underlines Abu Dhabi's standing as one of the Middle East's premier hosts for major international sporting spectacles, continuing a partnership now in its seventeenth year.