UFC 331 Results: Sean Sharaf Shocks Gable Steveson in 12 Seconds, Arman Tsarukyan Stakes His Title Claim, Full Card Results & Video
By Real Combat Media MMA Editorial Staff
Los Angeles, California, (September 19th, 2026)–Joshua Van successfully defended the UFC flyweight title in a Fight of the Year contender against Alexandre Pantoja, but by Sunday morning nobody was talking about the main event. UFC 331 will be remembered for what happened one fight before it, when a -2400 favorite hit the canvas in twelve seconds, and for the statement Arman Tsarukyan made right before that. A sold-out Crypto.com Arena watched the promotion’s first Los Angeles show since 2018 turn into one of the wildest nights of the year, with four of the six main card fights ending in the first round and two legitimate upsets rewriting the heavyweight and light heavyweight conversations.
Main Event: Van Outlasts Pantoja in a Five-Round War
Nine months after their controversial first meeting ended in 26 seconds on a freak arm injury, Van and Pantoja delivered the fight everyone wanted the first time around. Pantoja had his moments, rocking Van with combinations in the third and fourth rounds and mixing in enough grappling to make it competitive, but Van kept answering every exchange and controlling enough of the striking volume to pull away on the cards. All three judges sided with the champion (49-46, 49-47, 50-45), the widest of the scores drawing some post-fight grumbling but no real dispute about who won. It’s Van’s second successful defense at just 24 years old, and it should end any remaining argument that his first win over Pantoja was a fluke.
Tsarukyan Stakes His Claim With a Devastating Elbow
Arman Tsarukyan spent most of round one chasing takedowns he couldn’t quite finish, with Ruffy sprawling well and even cracking him with a clean counter early. Then, with the horn almost in sight, Tsarukyan clinched up against the fence and threw a short, vicious elbow that put Ruffy’s lights out before he hit the ground — and threw a second one for good measure on the way down. The finish came at 4:56 of round one, about as late as a first-round knockout gets, and it was as violent as anything on the card. It’s Tsarukyan’s fifth straight win since a loss to Mateusz Gamrot, running his record to 24-3 with victories over Ruffy, Dan Hooker and Charles Oliveira in that stretch, and Dana White said afterward that Tsarukyan had “completely flipped the script” on the lightweight title picture. A shot at the winner of Ilia Topuria’s next move now looks like the obvious next step.
The Upset: Sharaf Knocks Out Steveson in 12 Seconds
Then came the fight nobody saw coming. Gable Steveson, the 2020 Olympic gold medalist being groomed as the future of the heavyweight division, walked in as a -2400 favorite over Sean Sharaf, a fighter who’d been finished in both of his previous UFC appearances. It lasted twelve seconds. Sharaf closed the distance immediately and landed a picture-perfect one-two, the left hook finding Steveson clean and putting him face-first on the canvas before he had thrown a single strike of his own. Referee Frank Trigg didn’t hesitate, and it stands as the third-fastest finish in UFC heavyweight history. The image that will follow Steveson, though, came after the stoppage: he got up and walked to the back before Bruce Buffer could even read the official result, and a Los Angeles crowd that had booed him throughout fight week let him have it on the way out. UFC analyst Daniel Cormier called out the exit live on the broadcast. Ringside, Steveson’s coach and mentor Jon Jones sat frozen with his mouth open, and footage of his stunned reaction spread across social media almost as fast as the finish itself. For Sharaf, a massive underdog who’d arrived in Los Angeles buried in bad press, it’s his first UFC win and one of the biggest upsets the promotion has seen in years.
Pitbull, Menifield Add to the Night’s Upset Total
The shocks didn’t stop there. Patricio Pitbull, a betting underdog against the hotter Doo Ho Choi, needed just over three minutes to change that narrative, dropping Choi and finishing with punches on the ground for his first real statement win since arriving in the UFC. Alonzo Menifield pulled off the other major upset of the night, out-working -250 favorite Iwo Baraniewski over three rounds to hand the previously unbeaten prospect the first loss of his career on a split verdict, snapping Baraniewski’s run of first-round finishes in the process. Marlon Vera closed the main card as the one favorite who actually got through clean, breaking down Charles Jourdain with punches in the third round after Jourdain gave him a competitive opening two rounds.
Full Card Results
Joshua Van def. Alexandre Pantoja — Unanimous Decision (49-46, 49-47, 50-45)
Arman Tsarukyan def. Mauricio Ruffy — KO/TKO (elbows), R1, 4:56
Sean Sharaf def. Gable Steveson — KO (punches), R1, 0:12
Patricio Pitbull def. Doo Ho Choi — TKO (punches), R1, 3:28
Marlon Vera def. Charles Jourdain — TKO (punches), R3, 2:02
Alonzo Menifield def. Iwo Baraniewski — Split Decision
Robelis Despaigne def. Tai Tuivasa — Split Decision
Michael Aswell Jr. def. Joo Sang Yoo — Split Decision
Edmen Shahbazyan def. Brunno Ferreira — Unanimous Decision
Ryan Gandra def. Ozzy Diaz — KO/TKO, R1, 2:04
Casey O’Neill def. Eduarda Moura — Submission, R1, 3:22
Joanderson Brito def. Giga Chikadze — KO/TKO, R1, 1:57
Watch: Video Highlights
Watch: Post-Fight Press Conference
Watch: Reaction
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