UFC Gives Gable Steveson Huge Opportunity After Major UFC 331 Fight Cancellation

Following a major fight week cancellation, Gable Steveson's second UFC fight has been bumped up to serve as the main card opener for UFC 331.

Set to take place this Saturday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA, UFC 331 is headlined by a highly-anticipated rematch between reigning UFC Flyweight Champion Joshua Van and the division’s former titleholder Alexandre Pantoja.

The event also features plenty of other high-profile bouts with significant stakes for several UFC divisions, but the event did unfortunately take a big hit during fight week when Brian Ortega was forced out of a scheduled rematch with Renato Moicano.

Renato Moicano Rebooked After Missing Out on UFC 331 Fight

The rematch between Ortega and Moicano would have seen “T-City” make his lightweight debut after challenging for the UFC featherweight belt on two occasions, and Moicano has already been rebooked to headline UFC Vegas 123 in October opposite Tom Nolan.

Beneil Dariush (red gloves) fights Renato Moicano (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

There are a few prelim matchups that could have conceivably taken the spot of Moicano vs. Ortega 2 on the UFC 331 main card, but unsurprisingly the UFC has opted to give the added spotlight to the heavyweight bout between Gable Steveson and Sean Sharaf.

Gable Steveson Gets Main Card Slot for Second UFC Fight

A two-time NCAA Division 1 national champion in folkstyle wrestling and Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, Steveson immediately became one of the most highly-touted prospects in MMA history when he made his debut just over a year ago.

Gable Steveson during weigh-ins for UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

After winning his first fight in under two minutes, the 26-year-old also picked up a 15-second win with Mike Perry’s Dirty Boxing and followed that up with a 24-second knockout in his second MMA outing last November.

Gable Steveson (red gloves) celebrates after defeating Elisha Ellison (blue gloves) in a heavyweight bout during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Another first-round finish in February and 3-0 start to his MMA career was all it took for the UFC to sign Steveson outright, and the former wrestling standout made short work of Elisha Ellison when he debuted as part of the prelims for UFC 329.

Sean Sharaf Could Score Massive Upset at UFC 331

Sharaf also joined the UFC with an unbeaten record in 2024, but “The Smoke” will be hunting for both a massive upset and his first UFC victory when he opens the UFC 331 main card against Steveson.

After winning all four of his professional MMA bouts in the first round, Sharaf was stopped by Junior Tafa in the second round of his promotional debut and suffered the same fate when he met Steven Asplund on the last UFC event of 2025.

The UFC could also have opted to promote a huge bantamweight clash between former title challenger Marlon “Chito” Vera and Charles Jourdain to the UFC 331 main card, but that matchup will still serve as the final prelim fight of the night.

Marlon Vera (blue gloves) fights Sean O’Malley (red gloves) during UFC 299 at Kaseya Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Assuming there are no issues during weigh-ins on Friday, UFC 331 is set to go ahead on Saturday night with a total of 12 scheduled fights.

UFC 331 Fight Card

Main Event: Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja 2

Co-Main Event: Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio Ruffy

Patricio Pitbull vs. Doo Ho Choi

Iwo Baraniewski vs. Alonzo Menifield

Gable Steveson vs. Sean Sharaf

Charles Jourdain vs. Marlon Vera

Tai Tuivasa vs. Robelis Despaigne

Michael Aswell Jr. vs. Joo Sang Yoo

Ryan Gandra vs. Ozzy Diaz

Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Brunno Ferreira

Casey O’Neill vs. Eduarda Moura

Giga Chikadze vs. Joanderson Brito

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