UFC 331 takeaways: Are we living in the greatest era for lightweights?

The main card of UFC 331 had shocking moments on top of shocking moments on top of pound-for-pound resume building. First, Sean Sharaf got his first UFC win as the biggest underdog in the promotion's history against Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson in just 12 seconds. Then Arman Tsarukyan stepped into the cage for the first time this year and reminded everyone why the current crop of UFC lightweights may be the best ever. And flyweight champion Joshua Van followed it all up with a performance that should place him among the 10 best MMA fighters in the world right now. What more could an MMA fan want? Van is a top five pound-for-pound fighter I can't believe I'm saying this -- not because Van isn't great or hasn't been great for some time. It's just -- how does one become a top-five fighter in the world at age 24, with less than five years of pro experience? After his performance on Saturday, I can't talk about Van anymore as just a phenom or a young champion. He is legitimately as good as just about anyone in the entire sport. Alexandre Pantoja coming off injury looked like the same Pantoja as before the injury. If anything, he looked even more determined than before. His pressure was appropriate and his decision-making was sound. Van was just better. He defended takedowns and escaped on the ground when Pantoja could get him there. At one point, was it just me or did Van catch Pantoja's glove as he threw a punch, before countering? He caught some of Pantoja's kicks, in the same way he caught the one in December that led to Pantoja's injury. In the fifth round, when the result of the fight still felt up in the air, Van delivered his best five minutes of work, dropping Pantoja with a right hand. Van is gifted athletically, confident and a natural finisher. He's been all of that from the first moment we saw him. One description that shouldn't be forgotten, however, is that he's extremely technical. This was one of the most technical fights of the entire year, against one of the best flyweights of all time, and Van ended up running away on the scorecards. If Van were 28, I don't think anyone would have an issue ranking him near the top of the pound-for-pound. The only hesitancy to do it is because -- it doesn't seem right or possible, given his age and relative inexperience. I'm getting over that. Van is top five. -- Brett Okamoto Are we living in the greatest lightweight era of all time? The history of the UFC's lightweight division is so undeniably rich. One of the division's greatest "eras" was from 2016 to 2020, when Conor McGregor became double champ at Madison Square Garden, Khabib Nurmagomedov dominated and timeless fighters such as Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje were in their primes. This upcoming chapter at lightweight has a chance to challenge all that. Within the past three months, Ilia Topuria has suffered his first loss (in spectacular fashion to Gaethje on the White House lawn) and vowed revenge. Paddy Pimblett has turned in a star-making performance, submitting Benoît Saint Denis in less than a minute on a McGregor-headlined card. And now Arman Tsarukyan has completed an unbelievable walkoff knockout of Mauricio Ruffy. Topuria, Pimblett and Tsarukyan are three legitimate superstar storylines, and it just so happens they are all rivals who have promised to take each other out. Don't forget that the champion, Gaethje, could postpone retirement in order to defend his throne. Veterans Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira are still active in the top five, too. Australia's Quillan Salkilld has had a breakout year, and Nurmagomedov's younger cousin, Usman, could potentially transition to the UFC after years of dominance in the PFL. Yeah. The next few years could be the best in lightweight history, and that is really, really saying something. -- Okamoto The Steveson train has hit an early crossroads It's not like Gable Steveson had never lost before. On his way to becoming a 2020 Olympic wrestling gold medalist and two-time NCAA Division I national champion, he was formidable but not perfect. His record at the University of Minnesota was 103-3. His international freestyle record, including cadet and junior levels, was 53-2. Even an all-time great has had to pick himself up and dust himself off at times. But this defeat was different from whatever Steveson had ever experienced. He got knocked out cold in 12 seconds by Sean Sharaf, a guy who came into their fight 0-2 in the UFC with both losses coming by knockout. Let's just acknowledge that this matchmaking was a setup to build an MMA résumé for Steveson. Considering that he had just four pro fights under his belt, though, this was an appropriate booking. The result was a shocker. It was the largest known upset in UFC history, per DraftKings. But what's done is done, and the story now takes an unexpected twist. Will this be just a speed bump on Steveson's express road toward the top of the UFC heavyweight division? Or will this defeat make Steveson timid in standup fighting, slowing his development beyond being a one-dimensional wrestler? Heavy-handed UFC heavyweights will surely be emboldened by seeing Steveson crash to the canvas. What seemed like a sure thing now is surrounded by question marks. The future might still be bright for Steveson. It probably will be. Here's a suggestion for Steveson: Don't bother watching the 12-second KO loss. Why put yourself through that again? Instead, go find video of Islam Makhachev's 2015 KO loss in his second UFC fight, then contemplate how Makhachev has managed to win all 17 of his fights since on his way to becoming the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. -- Jeff Wagenheim