Noah Gugnon’s second appearance in the UFC ended in a first-round knockout. The Frenchman was stopped by American Kody Steele on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi. At 3:54 of the opening round, a powerful right hand brought the contest to an abrupt end, following an exchange-heavy opening in which neither fighter had established sustained control.
ضربة يمينية تُسقط نوح غوغنون في أبوظبي.. وكودي ستيل يوقف صعود الفرنسي في #UFC333 pic.twitter.com/jgQgWvU4H7
— mmamag (@mmamagma) October 25, 2026
Gugnon had arrived looking to build on the momentum of his UFC debut in Belgrade last August. Steele, meanwhile, entered the matchup with a growing reputation as a finisher and an opportunity to confirm his progress inside the promotion. The outcome gave the American his second consecutive UFC victory, while Gugnon suffered his first defeat under the organization’s banner.
The opening round was not a one-sided affair. Steele attempted to use his wrestling to move the fight to the ground, but Gugnon defended several of those efforts and found opportunities on the feet. The Frenchman landed during exchanges and encouraged his opponent to engage in striking rather than rely exclusively on grappling. Neither man managed to impose a consistent advantage before the decisive sequence.
The fight ultimately turned during those stand-up exchanges. Near the fence, Steele unleashed a powerful right hand that connected with Gugnon’s head and sent him to the canvas. The American followed with additional strikes before the referee stepped in. The official stoppage came at 3:54 of the first round.
The result does not mean Gugnon was unable to compete on the feet. He found openings and produced offensive sequences of his own. But in a contest featuring repeated exchanges, one opening proved decisive. The emphatic finish should not erase the competitive moments that preceded it, just as those moments cannot diminish the significance of the shot that ended the fight.
To understand the setback in the context of Gugnon’s career, it is worth returning to Belgrade. On August 1, the Frenchman made an impressive UFC debut by submitting Montenegro’s Miloš Janičić with a rear-naked choke just 1:21 into the first round. The victory extended his winning streak to six, with every win during that run coming before the final bell.
Against Janičić, Gugnon opened with low kicks before transitioning into a takedown, establishing ground control and securing the submission. The sequence demonstrated his ability to move between striking and grappling to create a finishing opportunity. Abu Dhabi presented a different challenge. Steele combined his wrestling threats with dangerous boxing, and it was ultimately his striking that determined the outcome.
Gugnon’s professional record now stands at 10-3, including one win and one loss in the UFC. The numbers reflect a mixed start to his career with the promotion, but two appearances are not enough to establish a fighter’s ultimate potential at this level. His next performance will provide a clearer indication of how effectively he can address the weaknesses exposed in this defeat.
Steele, meanwhile, improves to 9-1. After losing to Rong Zhu in his UFC debut in February 2025, he rebounded in May by submitting Dom Mar Fan with an inverted heel hook. His victory over Gugnon now gives him back-to-back wins, this time secured by knockout rather than submission.
That distinction matters. Steele has retained the grappling skills that form a significant part of his arsenal while demonstrating that he can also turn a striking exchange into a decisive finish. Available fight reports indicate that six of his last seven victories have come before the final bell. The run reinforces his credentials as a dangerous finisher, although it does not, by itself, establish his overall standing against the wider lightweight division.
Following the fight, Steele made his ambitions clear when he called for a performance bonus. He said he had been telling himself in the locker room that he would land a powerful right hand before demanding the $100,000 reward: “I want that money! I want my $100,000. Put it in my bank account!” His comments amounted to a request for the bonus, not confirmation that it had been awarded.
For Gugnon, the Abu Dhabi defeat interrupts the momentum he built in Belgrade. It also highlights a specific challenge: managing close-range exchanges against an opponent who can threaten with both wrestling and punches. The next step will be to see what adjustments the Frenchman makes and how he responds in his next appearance. At the time of writing, no subsequent opponent or return date had been confirmed in the available information.
The contrast between Belgrade and Abu Dhabi is clear. But Gugnon’s longer-term trajectory will depend less on the image of the knockout itself than on his ability to understand how the fight slipped away—and demonstrate what he has learned when he returns to the Octagon.
