The UFC has added a 14th fight to the UFC 333 event in Abu Dhabi on October 24th. Noah Gugnon returns after an amazing debut in August. He takes on Kody Steele in the lightweight division.
Multiple sources have confirmed the fight to Heavy.com. The fight takes place at the Etihad Arena and is part of the preliminary card. For Gugnon, it will be his second fight in the UFC. His opponent, Steele, will fight for the third time in the promotion.
French Fierceness
The 25-year-old Noah Gugnon got signed this year to the UFC. The French fighter started his professional career in 2021. After winning his first four fights, he suffered back-to-back losses. He closed out 2024 with two wins on the regional scene and signed with Ares FC. At Ares FC, Gugnon impressed with a great knockout win during his debut in the first round against Ioan Harris.
Also in his sophomore outing for the promotion, he finished his opponent Adrian Prisceanu with elbows in the first round. In April this year, he got a third straight first-round win against Bruno Matos. That win brought Gugnon close to a title shot, but instead he signed on short notice with the UFC to take on Miloš Janičić in his debut. Gugnon showed his solid ground game and finished his opponent with a rear-naked choke submission in the first round. A glorious debut for Gugnon, who now meets Kody Steele in Abu Dhabi.
Lots Of Potential
Steele is one of the most entertaining fighters in the lightweight division. The 31-year-old American fighter started his professional MMA career in 2022. Steele was one of the most recognizable faces of the Fury FC promotion, where he fought six times and won all six of those fights. In 2024, he was invited to fight on the Contender Series to earn a UFC contract. Steele had to postpone his fight for a month because his opponent pulled out on fight night. He got matched up against Chasen Blair. In a very entertaining fight, Steele finished Blair with a body shot in the second round.
UFC President Dana White was impressed and gave Steele a much-deserved contract. The expectations for Steele were high when he made his official UFC debut early last year against Rongzhu. In a fight awarded the ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus, Steele lost a unanimous decision to the Chinese fighter. Steele almost didn’t fight for a year after the loss but bounced back earlier this year with a vicious heel hook submission against Dom Mar Fan in the first round. Steele was supposed to fight in August again but had to withdraw from the fight due to an injury. Now he is back for his third fight in the UFC to take on Noah Gugnon.
UFC 333 – Abu Dhabi
- Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev
- Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili
- Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Ramazan Temirov
- Alexander Volkov vs. Rizvan Kuniev
- Aaron Pico vs. Losene Keita
- Dominick Reyes vs. Azamat Murzakanov
- Abus Magomedov vs. Cam Rowston
- Nikita Krylov vs. Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev
- Grant Dawson vs. Nurullo Aliev
- Abubakar Vagaev vs. Jacob Malkoun
- Daniel Santos vs. Bolaji Oki
- Asaf Chopurov vs. Colby Thicknesse
- Iasmin Lucindo vs. Nicolle Caliari
- Noah Gugnon vs. Kody Steele
Lightweight Prospects Battle in Abu Dhabi at UFC 333