UFC 333 is full. Heavy.com first reported a lightweight bout between Noah Gugnon and Kody Steele. That addition brings the card at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi to 14 scheduled fights, according to a Monday rundown from Sports Illustrated’s FanNation that was republished by Yahoo Sports.
The top of the bill hasn’t changed. Alexander Volkanovski, now in his second reign as featherweight champion, defends against undefeated challenger Movsar Evloev in the main event. The co-main is a third meeting between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili with the bantamweight title on the line. Yan made the trilogy necessary when he took the belt from Dvalishvili in their rematch at UFC 323.
Gugnon’s habit of finishing
Gugnon is 25. He has 10 professional wins since debuting in 2021, and the judges haven’t had to decide any of them. The road there was bumpier than that number suggests. He started 4-0, then lost two straight, then turned things around with a first-round submission late in 2024. That win began a six-fight streak that includes three first-round finishes for Ares FC in his native France. It also includes his UFC debut last August in Belgrade, where he submitted fellow newcomer Milos Janicic a little over a minute into the fight.
Steele’s reset
Steele came to the UFC unbeaten out of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024, earning his contract by folding Chasen Blair with a body shot. His promotional debut at UFC 312 went sideways, an upset loss to Rongzhu that was the first defeat of his career. He answered in May at UFC Perth, catching Dom Mar Fan in a heel hook for his first UFC win. That leaves him 1-1 inside the Octagon heading into Abu Dhabi.
The rest of the lineup has plenty to chew on. Lone’er Kavanagh meets Ramazan Temirov, Alexander Volkov faces Rizvan Kuniev, and Aaron Pico takes on Losene Keita. Dominick Reyes draws Azamat Murzakanov, Abus Magomedov meets Cam Rowston, and Nikita Krylov faces Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev. Further down, Grant Dawson fights Nurullo Aliev and Jacob Malkoun meets Abubakar Vagaev. Colby Thickneese faces Asaf Chopurov, Daniel Santos meets Bolaji Oki, and Iasmin Lucindo takes on Nicolle Caliari. It’s the UFC’s second numbered event of October, following UFC 332 in Salt Lake City.
My take is that Gugnon is a fun booking, and I’m not ready to call him anything bigger. One UFC fight that lasted barely a minute tells you he’s dangerous early. It doesn’t tell you what happens when someone survives the first five minutes and makes him work. The detail on his record I keep coming back to is the stretch right after 4-0, when he lost twice in a row and then went out and submitted his next opponent in the first round. Steele has his own version of that story, a first loss on a big stage followed by a heel hook in Perth. Two young lightweights who’ve already had to climb back up once is a better matchup than its spot near the bottom of a 14-fight card suggests.
