Steele's right hand floors Gugnon for first-round knockout at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi

Kody Steele delivered another ruthless finish at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, dropping Noah Gugnon with a right hand and completing the first-round knockout at the 3:54 mark. The result moved Steele to 9-1 and extended a run in which he has finished six of his last seven opponents.

Steele, who joined the UFC in 2025 carrying an accomplished grappling background, has shown little interest in keeping fights on the mat since making the transition to MMA. Against Gugnon he did attempt wrestling early, looking to put his opponent on the canvas that way, but once Gugnon began landing his own strikes, Steele shifted into a straight exchange — and it was there that the fight was decided.

The right hand that ended the contest was no accident. Steele said afterwards he had mapped out the finish before he even walked to the cage.

“I was in the back, I was like, ‘I’m going to light this fool up with my right hand,’” Steele said in his post-fight interview. “Like I said, I want that money. I want that $100K, come on, put it in my bank account, let’s go.”

The performance built on a similarly sharp outing in May, when Steele submitted Dom Mar Fan with a slick inverted heel hook. Back-to-back finishes in the UFC underline how quickly the 9-1 fighter has adapted his grappling instincts to the demands of the cage, where his willingness to trade has become as much of a weapon as his wrestling pedigree.