Gable Steveson is the latest victim of a year marked by upsets

Gable Steveson's momentum came to a screeching halt at UFC 331, where he was handed his first professional loss by Sean Sharaf. Not only was it a crushing result for a man that many hailed as one of the heavyweight division's brightest prospects, but it also continued the 2026 trend of strong favorites being on the receiving end of astonishing upsets.

2026 makes Gable Steveson its latest victim

There was big pressure on Gable Steveson ahead of UFC 331. It was his first assignment on the main card of a numbered UFC event, but more than that, he faced an opponent in Sean Sharaf who showed no fear in bringing up his controversial past. At the pre-fight press conference earlier this week, Sharaf attacked Steveson for his 2019 sexual assault allegations, for which Steveson was not charged due to a legal loophole. While Steveson did his best to smile through the trash talk, he clearly felt the heat and during the face-off, threatened Sharaf with a short night. Yet, in an ironic twist, it was Steveson who ended up having a short night come fight night.

Sharaf needed just 12 seconds in round one to knock Steveson out stiff. It was a left hook that did the job, and elevated Sharaf as the most recent underdog to humble a massive favorite in 2026. Not too long ago, Umar Nurmagomedov was on the receiving end of his own brutal knockout at the hands of an underdog in Song Yadong at UFC Shanghai in late August. It was a jaw-dropping result that no one expected, with many in the MMA world convinced that Nurmagomedov, who is widely regarded as one of the most skilled bantamweights in the world, was on his way back to title contention. Instead, he was knocked out in round two by a betting underdog.

Then, back at UFC Freedom 250, the then undefeated Ilia Topuria lost his lightweight title to a 37-year-old Justin Gaethje, who was counted out by many, yet battered the Spaniard en route to a fourth-round TKO. Another undefeated fighter who lost his '0' this year was Khamzat Chimaev, who dropped the middleweight title to a historic underdog in Sean Strickland at UFC 328, losing via split-decision. And a few months before that at UFC 324, Gaethje had authored his first 2026 upset against someone he was expected to lose to, when he won the interim lightweight title by battering Paddy Pimblett to a unanimous decision win.

It hasn't been a good year for heavy favorites, and with so many cards to go before the end of 2026, there's still room for, at least, one more upset.