Earlier this month, on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, former Olympian and WWE star Gable Steveson suffered his first MMA loss against Sean Sharaf at UFC 331. Their match finished even before it properly began. Competing in his second-ever UFC fight, Steveson suffered a humiliating knockout loss against Sharaf.

Sharaf knocked out Steveson just 12 seconds into the first round, taking his win-loss record to 4-1. Now, a few days later, Sharaf opened up on Weighing In, to talk about his win over Steveson as well as how McGregor inspired him. (via NyFights)

“I’ve studied Jon Jones since…, and you saw Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor,” Sharaf said. “That is a real thing. You say something before the fight, and if it irks somebody the wrong way, they’re not gonna be thinking as level-headed as they would. That’s why that happened.”

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Sharaf mentioned how he studied McGregor rattling featherweight champion Jose Aldo ahead of their historic title fight at UFC 194 in Dec. 2015. After months of those mental games, McGregor was able to defeat a mentally shaken Aldo.

Ahead of their fight, Sharaf also made several comments about Steveson's past and allegedly played mental games with him before the fight. On Sept. 19, 2026, Sharaf did not require more than 12 seconds to knock out the former Olympian and win the fight. In the process, he also earned a $100,000 knockout win bonus. As per stats available on Tapology, Sharaf, 33, is currently 5-2-o in professional MMA. He had his first professional MMA fight against Bruno Casillas in 2021 and recent one against Steveson at UFC 331.