UFC’s return to Abu Dhabi witnessed a violent night unfolding with a total of 7 fights ending in finishes, 6 of them being knockouts. Naturally, it was expected that some of them would end up in the hospital. But, to everyone’s utter surprise, a heavyweight fighter got hospitalized after a decision loss at UFC 333.

The heavyweight fighter in question is Rizvan Kuniev, who dropped a unanimous decision defeat against Alexander Volkov at UFC 333 in the Etihad Arena on October 24, 2026. According to a report by MMA Mania, UFC transported Kuniev to a local hospital in Abu Dhabi for precautionary X-rays of his leg.

The reason behind Kuniev’s hospitalization is that Alexander Volkov chopped his leg throughout their 3 rounds of action. ‘Drago’ mixed his strikes with a steady dose of leg kicks that inflicted damage on Kuniev’s legs, which turned bright red before the fight ended.

As per the ESPN stats, Volkov landed 14 leg kicks on Kuniev at their UFC 333 heavyweight bout, which was enough for the promotion to send the Dagestani for a doctor’s checkup.

The details on Kuniev’s injury remain unknown until he or his team makes reports public.  

Kuniev’s UFC 333 loss against Alexander Volkov marked his second loss under the promotion’s banner. He previously dropped a fight vs. Curtis Blaydes via split decision at UFC Baku in 2025. However, the UFC heavyweight avoided a trip to the hospital following his loss to Blaydes, making this the first time Rizvan Kuniev has been hospitalized after a defeat.

What’s more surprising is that MMA Mania’s report also confirmed that Kuniev is the only fighter at UFC 333 to be transported to the hospital after an event that witnessed 7 finishes. Still, the fact that this has happened twice in a month is notable.

At UFC Vegas 122, held on October 10, 2026, Loopy Godinez became the only fighter to head to the hospital for precautionary scans for her head and face after winning a violent and controversial showdown vs. Ketlen Souza via unanimous decision.  

That said, until the UFC heavyweight fighter’s medical reports become public, it’s hard to predict when he would return. However, we can definitely make a guess about Kuniev’s comeback timeline by assessing the case of another UFC fighter who was also transferred to the hospital because of leg kicks.

UFC heavyweight fighter Rizvan Kuniev suffered a similar fate to Junior Tafa 

Rizvan Kuniev being hospitalized for leg kicks was definitely surprising to many. But those who are familiar with Junior Tafa’s case won’t find the news remotely shocking.

On June 6, 2026, Junior Tafa faced Iwo Baraniewski in a light heavyweight showdown at UFC Vegas 118 at the Meta Apex. From the opening bell, the Polish fighter noticed that Tafa was susceptible to leg kicks and consistently used them to inflict damage to the Aussie fighter’s leg.

Baraniewski’s repeated leg kicks mixed with powerful strikes upwards created massive problems for Tafa. Eventually, one of the leg kicks dropped Tafa on the ground, and Baraniewski sealed the deal with follow-up ground strikes to get a TKO win in the first round.

Right after the fight, UFC transferred Junior Tafa to the hospital for a precautionary scan of his left leg. We don’t know whether Tafa suffered any serious injury on his legs because neither he nor his team made the details public. However, he was scheduled to fight Ce Liu in August at UFC Shanghai.

Tafa unexpectedly withdrew from the Shanghai fight because of undisclosed reasons. But the fact that he was scheduling his next bout signaled that he was ready to perform despite the damage to his leg in June.

With that in mind, we can assume that Rizvan Kuniev can also return soon. Unlike Tafa, the Dagestani wasn’t dropped by Alexander Volkov’s leg kicks and likely could make his diagnosis and recovery much quicker, unless, of course, the leg kicks turn out much more severe than our assumption.