LOS ANGELES — You could say Sean Sharaf had a puncher’s chance. Not that anyone was giving him one.
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But the Anaheim native and Santa Ana heavyweight made his biggest punch count, finding the chin of heavily hyped prospect Gable Steveson and recording a jaw-dropping 12-second knockout on the UFC 331 main card Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
Sharaf, 33, was 0-2 in the UFC and as high as a 12-to-1 underdog but was undeterred all fight week long.
As Steveson (4-1) led with a left in the opening seconds of their bout, Sharaf (5-2) cracked him on the jaw with a hellacious left hook. Steveson’s head snapped back and he tumbled backward and fell. The crowd roared as Sharaf followed with two punches before referee Frank Trigg called it off.
In an exclusive interview Tuesday, Sharaf, who served in the Marines for six years, said he saw the fight as his chance to shock the world.
“Everyone sees it as like, ‘Oh, it’s a big name. You should be scared,’” Sharaf said. “But I see it as this big opportunity for me to take everything and all the hype that he has right now and make it my own.”
Not only was Sharaf’s UFC career possibly on the line, but it was against a guy seen as a can’t-miss future champ after his days of being a five-time All-American wrestler at Minnesota and 2020 Olympic gold medalist.
And Sharaf called his shot four days ago: “Most of my life, I’ve been the underdog. Nothing new. Back against the wall, ready to shock the world.”
Shahbazyan shines
And they say you can’t go home again.
Five years after moving to Las Vegas to better his life and career, Glendale native Edmen Shahbazyan returned with a unanimous-decision victory over tough middleweight Brunno Ferreira.
The fight seemed to hang in the balance of the third and final round, with Shahbazyan capitalizing with a late, brief takedown of the Brazilian and two knockdowns in the final seconds.
The judges scored it 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 for Shahbazyan, who has now won four of his past five fights.
In his first local fight since a 30-second TKO of Daniel McWilliams in April 2018 at California Xtreme Fighting 12 in Burbank, Shahbazyan (17-6) had the support of the local crowd early and often and called out his Armenian brethren after the fight.
“I’m gonna celebrate tonight. You know where I’ll be. Glendale Burbank!” the smiling 28-year-old Shahbazyan yelled.
The fight started patiently and technically, with Shahbazyan utilizing calf kicks to keep Ferreira (15-5) away and off balance. Ferreira got more active in the second round, getting in more strikes and appearing to even the scorecards.
The action was fairly even in the third before Shahbazyan picked up the pace. He secured a body lock and landed a quick takedown. In the final minute, Ferreira went for a spinning move and Shahbazyan clipped him at the tail end of it with a left to the jaw, Ferreira hit the mat briefly.
After the clap signifying the bout’s final seconds, they traded shots, with Shahbazyan again dropping Ferreira with a hard right, as a result handing him his third consecutive loss.
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Vera rises to the occasion
Marlon Vera needed a win in the worst way and came through.
The Newport Beach bantamweight, as an underdog to Charles Jourdain and having lost three in a row, stepped up in a must-win fight and delivered a masterful performance in a third-round victory.
Vera (24-12-1) caught several Jourdain kicks and made the Canadian pay. He also went for the Muay Thai clinch in the center of the Octagon, slinging knees, fists, elbows and anything that would get through.
One uppercut from close range in the second round put Jourdain (18-9-1) down. And in that round, Vera cracked a downed Jourdain’s head back and also made him pay with a stiff left.
The end came more than halfway through the final round. A Vera left to the nose had Jourdain withering and falling to the canvas, signaling to the referee with 2:02 remaining that he was done.
Vera, who switched up his camp and coaches in an effort to right his career, knelt in the Octagon afterward, overcome with emotion.
Jourdain came into the fight on a three-fight winning streak – all taking place in his home country – with two Performance of the Night bonuses and a Fight of the Night bonus.
Menifield pushes past the pain
Nothing was stopping Alonzo Menifield.
His thumb broken in the first round, the L.A. native and light heavyweight toiled for two more rounds and earned a split-decision victory over previously unbeaten Iwo Baraniewski.
Menifield (19-6-1), a former football star at Canyon High and Glendale Community College, was going up against a 9-0 prospect that had never needed to go beyond four minutes in any of his fights.
Instead, Menifield had the Pole’s nose bleeding before the first round was over. After the second round of their slobberknocker, the broadcast caught Menifield’s injury, with the bone sticking through his left thumb.
And in the third round, Menifield still threw his left, not backing down against his tiring opponent. The judges scored it 28-29, 29-28, 29-28 for the Dallas 205-pounder.
Gandra works quickly again
Ryan Gandra connected. Ryan Gandra chased.
Once the Brazilian middleweight clocked Ozzy Diaz and the Los Angeles native began to retreat, it was the beginning of the end as Gandra hunted him down before earning the first-round knockout.
Diaz (10-5), who now lives and trains in Las Vegas, was backpedaling against the cage and doing his best to defend, but Gandra (11-1) was relentless. Eventually, Diaz had no other option but to sink toward the mat. Gandra unleashed power shot after power shot, with the referee jumping in to stop it after 2:04.
Now 3-0 with three first-round knockouts in the UFC, Gandra extended his winning streak to 10 with all but one via finishes. Diaz lost for the third time in four UFC fights.
Brito wastes no time
One slip was all it took for Joanderson Brito to take advantage.
Giga Chikadze, a former kickboxing star, unleashed three consecutive kicks before missing on the fourth. The Huntington Beach featherweight slipped and fell and the Brazilian pounced, dropping rights and hammerfists for the first-round stoppage.
Referee Frank Trigg stopped the fight just 1:57 into the first round. It is the fourth consecutive loss for the 38-year-old Chikadze (15-7) and the third win in a row for Brito (20-5-1).