Kody Steele vs. Noah Gugnon

UFC 333 · October 24, 2026 · Etihad Arena · Early Prelims 10:00 AM ET

The brief

What kind of fight: Finisher vs. finisher
Finish likelihood: High
The line: Steele -155 · Gugnon +130Consensus
The stakes: Lightweight · Early Prelims

The read

Both men have ended most of their wins before the final bell, which points toward an early finish for whoever imposes their game first.

Gugnon's unbeaten UFC start and finishing rate make him the aggressor to watch, but Steele's own submission instincts are live from the opening horn.

The matchup

Kody Steele

Wrestling-Based Grappler

Black belt jiu-jitsu · Folkstyle and Greco-Roman background · Heel hook finisher

GrapplingStriking

Noah Gugnon

Finishing Prospect

Six-fight win streak · First-round finisher · UFC debut win

GrapplingStriking

Two finishers meet in a lightweight bout where neither man has needed a judge's scorecard to get a win in years — Gugnon's entire 10-fight win total has come by stoppage, and Steele has finished six of his eight career wins.

Gugnon is undefeated in the UFC off a first-round submission debut, while Steele rebounded from his own decision loss in his debut with a heel hook finish.

Tale of the tape

8-1	Record	10-2
31	Age	26
5'9"	Height	5'11"
71"	Reach	71"
Orthodox	Stance	Orthodox
United States	Country	France
Syndicate MMA	Team	Bulgarian Top Team

The numbers

Career UFC averages. Red bar = statistical edge.

Kody SteeleNoah Gugnon

—Sig. strikes landed / min (volume)—

—Striking accuracy (precision)—

—Sig. strikes absorbed / min (lower is better)—

—Striking defense (strikes avoided)—

—Takedowns / 15 min (wrestling offense)—

—Takedown accuracy—

—Takedown defense—

—Submission attempts / 15 min—

The fighters

Kody Steele 8-1

Kody Steele is a 31-year-old American lightweight from Port Angeles, Washington, a longtime wrestler and jiu-jitsu black belt training at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas. He dropped a unanimous-decision UFC debut to Rongzhu at UFC 312 before rebounding with a first-round heel hook submission in May 2026, and now meets Frenchman Noah Gugnon, unbeaten in the UFC at 1-0, at UFC 333.

How they win

4 KO/TKO2 SUB2 DEC

How they lose

0 KO/TKO0 SUB1 DEC

Last 3 fights

WDom Mar Fan · Submission (heel hook)UFC Fight Night: Della Maddalena vs. Prates · May 2, 2026
LRongzhu · Decision (unanimous)UFC 312 · February 8, 2025

Full Steele profile →

Noah Gugnon 10-2

Noah Gugnon is a 26-year-old French lightweight from Spicheren who trains at Bulgarian Top Team, riding a six-fight win streak into his second UFC appearance. All 10 of his career wins have come by knockout or submission with no fight reaching the scorecards, and he finished Miloš Janičić with a first-round rear-naked choke in his UFC debut in August 2026. He now meets fellow finisher Kody Steele at UFC 333.

How they win

6 KO/TKO4 SUB0 DEC

How they lose

1 KO/TKO0 SUB1 DEC

Last 3 fights

WMiloš Janičić · Submission (rear-naked choke)UFC Fight Night · August 1, 2026

Full Gugnon profile →

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