UFC 331 6th Round: Perfect Execution

UFC 331 was kind of mid card on paper but in practice, it was pure greatness, mainly thanks to Sean Sharaf. Aside from that amazing ending, we had several really good finishes that added to the action in Los Angeles. It was certainly a night for the old guard, and that is fine by me.

The prelims opened up with Joanderson Brito stopping Giga Chikadze by brutal KO in the first round with hammerfists. You have to wonder what they’re going to do with Giga since that was his fourth straight loss. Casey O’Neill secured a sick armbar on Eduarda Moura in the first round, showing that the ranked ladies should probably be a little higher up on the card. Ryan Gandra defeated Ozzy Diaz in the first round by TKO, after a barrage of punches forced referee intervention. Capping off the undercard, Marlon Vera scored a third round TKO over Charles Jourdain.

The main card finishes saw Sean Sharaf absolutely run through Gable Steveson like a Mack truck. His round one knockout was heard around the world, and especially among bettors and oddsmakers who had Steveson at -2200 at the start of the fight. Sharaf became an instant fan favorite and unofficial Hall-of Famer with that thunderous stoppage.

Patricio Pitbull wasted no time in nailing the Korean Superboy in round one with hellacious punches to score the knockout, demonstrating that the oddsmakers were all wrong about a couple veterans. Arman Tsarukyan followed up with a knockout of his own, stopping Mauricio Ruffy with vicious elbows in a round one buzzer-beater. The headlining fight was a banger, even though it didn’t end in a finish. Joshua Van is a phenomenal striker and it showed in spades tonight. Outstanding performance by the champ.

For those keeping up, here are the disclosed payouts (Courtesy of MMA Junkie) since the event took place in California:

Now that we’ve reviewed the highlights, let’s check out the results and bonuses while we’re here.

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UFC 331 Results

* 125 lbs.: Joshua Van def. Alexandre Pantoja by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-47, 50-45)

* 155 lbs.: Arman Tsarukyan def. Mauricio Ruffy by KO (elbows), round 1 (4:56)

* 145 lbs.: Patricio Pitbull def. Doohoo Choi by KO (punches), round 1 (3:28)

* 265 lbs.: Sean Sharaf def. Gable Steveson by KO (punch), round 1 (0:12)

* 205 lbs.: Alonzo Menifield def. Iwo Baraniewski by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

* 135 lbs.: Marlon Vera def. Charles Jourdain by TKO (punch), round 3 (2:02)

* 265 lbs.: Robelis Despaigne def. Tai Tuivasa by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

* 145 lbs.: Michael Aswell Jr. def. Joo Sang Yoo by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

* 185 lbs.: Ryan Gandra def. Ozzy Diaz by TKO (punches), round 1 (2:04)

* 185 lbs.: Edmen Shahbazyan def. Brunno Ferreira by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

* 125 lbs.: Casey O’Neill def. Eduarda Moura by submission (armbar), round 1 (3:22)

* 145 lbs.: Joanderson Brito def. Giga Chikadze by KO (hammerfists), round 1 (0:57)

UFC 331 Bonuses

* $100K each FOTN: Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja

* $100K each POTN: Arman Tsarukyan, Casey O'Neill

* $100K Proper Chaos Bonus (Was $50K but Dana White matched it): Sean Sharaf

* $25K each to the other fighters that got a finish: Joanderson Brito, Ryan Gandra, Marlon Vera, Patricio Pitbull

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