UFC 331 gave us some of the biggest upsets and KOs of the year.

Sean Sharaf needed just 12 seconds to flatten Gable Steveson. Arman Tsarukyan put Mauricio Ruffy away with a nasty elbow. Patricio Pitbull finally looked like the guy UFC fans expected to see when he signed with the promotion. And Joshua Van continued his run as one of the UFC's fastest-rising stars.

Now comes the fun part: figuring out what's next.

Here are five fights I'd make after UFC 33:.

1. Joshua Van vs. Manel Kape

At this point, Manel Kape feels like the fight to make.

Joshua Van just beat Alexandre Pantoja again, and this time there wasn't much left to argue about. Van controlled the striking, defended Pantoja's wrestling and even dropped the former champion late in the fight.

The kid is legit.

Kape is one of the few guys near the top of the division who feels like a fresh matchup for Van. He's riding a four-fight winning streak and is coming off a knockout win over Kyoji Horiguchi.

More importantly, Kape brings a completely different problem. Pantoja wanted to wrestle. Kape is going to want to stand and bang.

Van has already proven he can beat one of the best grapplers at 125 pounds. Now let's see what happens when he gets locked in there with one of the division's most dangerous strikers.

2. Arman Tsarukyan vs. Justin Gaethje

Arman Tsarukyan needed a statement win–and he got one.

Tsarukyan knocked out Mauricio Ruffy with a brutal elbow in the first round, putting together his sixth straight win and reminding everyone why he has been hovering around the top of the lightweight division for so long.

Now he needs to stop waiting.

Justin Gaethje is the UFC lightweight champion, and if the title picture lines up, Tsarukyan should be right there. The matchup is also just too good to pass up.

Tsarukyan's wrestling against Gaethje's ability to turn a fight into complete chaos? Yeah, sign me up.

Arman has spent enough time waiting for his next big opportunity. Give him the biggest one available as soon as possible.

3. Patricio Pitbull vs. Arnold Allen

Okay, this is the fun one.

Patricio Pitbull finally looked like the Patricio Pitbull we’ve all been expecting for years in the UFC.

After a rough start to his UFC run, Pitbull absolutely smoked Doo Ho Choi in the first round and reminded everyone why he spent years being one of the biggest names in MMA outside of the UFC.

Now he needs a bigger test, and Arnold Allen just makes sense.

Allen has been around the top of the featherweight division for years and has the experience to give Pitbull a completely different kind of fight.

Pitbull doesn't need another lower-ranked opponent. He needs someone who can tell us whether the UFC version of Pitbull is actually back.

4. Sean Sharaf vs. Shamil Gaziev

Twelve seconds.

That's all Sean Sharaf needed to completely kill the Gable Steveson hype train.

Sharaf caught the Olympic gold medalist with a massive left hand and turned what was supposed to be Steveson's big UFC debut into one of the most shocking KOs of the year. But let's pump the brakes a little.

Sharaf had lost his previous two fights, so giving him a top-10 heavyweight immediately would be a little ridiculous.

Shamil Gaziev feels like a much better next step.

Gaziev is coming off a knockout win over Kennedy Nzechukwu and is still trying to find his footing in the heavyweight division.

Sharaf gets a chance to prove the Steveson KO wasn't a fluke, while Gaziev gets another dangerous heavyweight in front of him. And let's be honest, this is heavyweight MMA.

Someone is probably getting knocked out.

5. Alonzo Menifield vs. Robert Whittaker

Before anything else, somebody needs to make sure Alonzo Menifield's thumb is okay. That thing looked rough.

Menifield somehow fought through the injury and still picked up a split decision over Iwo Baraniewski, giving him two straight wins and four victories in his last five fights.

So what's next?

Let's give him a name.

Robert Whittaker recently moved up to light heavyweight and picked up a win over Nikita Krylov. Menifield is trying to establish himself in the same division, so this feels like a pretty clean matchup.

Whittaker has the résumé. Menifield has the momentum.

And if Menifield's thumb survives another training camp, I'm all for it.