{"id":823347,"date":"2026-07-25T17:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T17:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/823347\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T17:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T17:32:10","slug":"ufc-333-heading-to-abu-dhabi-as-mma-giants-confirm-october-return-to-etihad-arena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/823347\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC 333 heading to Abu Dhabi as MMA giants confirm October return to Etihad Arena"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UFC will return to Abu Dhabi in October 2026 for a numbered event, with UFC 333 set to land in the UAE capital.<\/p>\n

The UFC has been in town all week for a summer Fight Night and chose Saturday’s show<\/a> as the perfect moment to reveal details of another major card at Etihad Arena on October 24.<\/p>\n

Typically, the UFC<\/a> saves its very best matchups for its numbered events, with the biggest names on the roster and title bouts featuring on the bill.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

UFC back in Abu Dhabi for Fight Night 282 at Etihad Arena<\/p>\n

Last October, Abu Dhabi was chosen as the location for the heavyweight title showdown between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane. The bout ended in a disappointing no contest<\/a> after Gane made contact with Aspinall’s eye, but the matchmaking was indicative of the calibre of contest UFC boss Dana White tends to reserve for trips to the UAE.<\/p>\n

Saturday’s Fight Night \u2013 headlined by the light-heavyweight clash between Magomed Ankalaev and Bogdan Guskov \u2013 was the 23rd show the world’s leading MMA promotion has brought to Abu Dhabi<\/a>, with UFC 333 set to be the 24th.<\/p>\n

The partnership dates back to 2010 and continues to go from strength to strength, with the UFC<\/a> and the Department of Culture and Tourism \u2013 Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) having a contract through 2028.<\/p>\n

Dave Shaw, executive vice president, head of international and content at the UFC, told The National it was a special moment to be able to reveal details of the promotion’s October return live during Saturday night’s show at Etihad Arena.<\/p>\n

He said: “It’s a perfect formula, right? We’re here. We’ve got an audience. We’ve got thousands of people in the arena. We’ve got millions of people watching around the world.<\/p>\n

“There’s really no better way for us to announce the return to Abu Dhabi than while we’re in Abu Dhabi.”<\/p>\n

UFC 333 will be preceded by Abu Dhabi Showdown Week on Yas Island, featuring numerous MMA-themed experiences. Fans are encouraged to register their interest early at VisitAbuDhabi.ae<\/a> for the best chance to secure tickets, along with exclusive hotel packages for travelling fans.<\/p>\n

VIP packages for UFC 333 will be available soon via On Location, the UFC’s official VIP experience provider. These packages offer premium seating, VIP access to weigh-ins, all-inclusive private lounge access, meet and greets with UFC athletes, and more. Visit UFCVIP.com for details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UFC will return to Abu Dhabi in October 2026 for a numbered event, with UFC 333 set…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":823348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[944,64,63,786,785,37179,85,156,155,787,25164],"class_list":["post-823347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-abu-dhabi","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sport-team","tag-sports","tag-standard","tag-story","tag-ufc","tag-yas-island"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}