Steven Asplund

Asplund controlled the first round, answered Pat's second-round knockdown with a high kick and stronger final frame, and won a unanimous heavyweight decision.

Key moments

• Dropped Pat late in the first and followed him to the canvas.
• Was dropped by Pat's left hook in the second round.
• Recovered with a high kick and stronger pressure over the final five minutes.

Asplund lost his first taste of ranked-caliber UFC heavyweight competition, going the full three rounds with Vitor Petrino and dropping a unanimous decision. UFC's own Fighter Facts page says the result snapped a four-fight finishing streak that had carried him from the regional scene through his first two UFC wins.

Key moments

• UFC.com's official fight history records a three-round unanimous-decision loss.
• The fight went the full 15 minutes — Asplund's first UFC bout to reach a scorecard.
• UFC's Fighter Facts page notes the loss "snapped a 4-fight finishing streak."

Asplund made a winning UFC debut, stopping Sean Sharaf with strikes in the second round. It came three months after he graduated from Dana White's Contender Series with a first-round knockout.

Key moments

• UFC.com's fight history records the stoppage by strikes at 3:49 of round two.
• It was Asplund's Octagon debut, per UFC.com's bio (Octagon Debut: Dec. 13, 2025).
• The win was the first leg of what UFC's Fighter Facts page later called a four-fight finishing streak, snapped when Asplund next faced Vitor Petrino.

Asplund earned his UFC contract in the fastest way possible, knocking out Anthony Guarascio with punches and elbows just 16 seconds into their Contender Series bout.

Key moments

• UFC.com's fight history and Sherdog both record the finish at 0:16 of round one.
• The win came on Dana White's Contender Series, Season 9, Week 5, and led directly to Asplund's UFC contract.
• It was the finish that started the four-fight stoppage run UFC later referenced in his Fighter Facts page.

Asplund earned his fourth win inside the LFA cage against Raiden Kovacs in Prior Lake, Minnesota, finishing with punches and elbows in the second round. He later called it his toughest fight to that point in his UFC bio Q&A, saying an early takedown forced him to survive much of round one before he found the finish.

Key moments

• Cageside Press reported Asplund was fighting for his fourth win inside the LFA cage; Sherdog, Cageside Press, and Combat Press all independently record the finish by TKO (punches and elbows) at 1:53 of round two.
• In his UFC bio Q&A, Asplund said a good early exchange led to a takedown he had to survive before finding the finish.
• It was the third fight of what UFC later called Asplund's four-fight finishing streak.

Asplund needed nearly three full rounds to put away Hammer Morton at LFA 200 in Minnesota, moving him to 3-1 inside the LFA cage.

Key moments

• Sherdog, Cageside Press, and Combat Press all independently record the stoppage by TKO at 1:29 of round three.
• It was the second fight of what UFC later called Asplund's four-fight finishing streak.
• The win moved him to 3-1 inside the LFA cage after an earlier loss to Denzel Freeman.

Freeman handed Asplund the only loss of his professional career at LFA 193 in Prior Lake, Minnesota, catching him with a rear-naked choke early in round two. Asplund said the defeat prompted real self-reflection, and more than six months later he was still talking about running it back with Freeman, who had called him out after his own next win.

Key moments

• Cageside Press's LFA 193 results confirm the finish: Freeman submitted Asplund with a rear-naked choke at 1:17 of round two — Asplund's only professional loss.
• Asplund told Cageside Press he had "a pretty stern talk with myself" after the loss to Freeman.
• Freeman called Asplund out after his own next win; in an April 2025 interview, Asplund said Freeman had been "holding up rent" in his head ever since, and floated a Contender Series rematch.

Asplund closed out the preliminary card at LFA 181 in Prior Lake, Minnesota with a unanimous decision over Larry Gonzales, going the full three rounds for the first time as a professional. It was a step up from his 11-second pro debut two months earlier, against a Gonzales who arrived on a 5-1 run.

Key moments

• Cageside Press's LFA 181 results confirm the decision: "Steven Asplund def. Larry Gonzales by unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-27)."
• Gonzales entered the bout 5-1; Asplund was undefeated as both an amateur and a professional.
• It was the first fight of Asplund's career to reach a judges' scorecard, after his first two bouts both ended by first-round stoppage.

Asplund's second professional fight ended early again: a cut forced the ringside doctor to step in and stop his LFA 174 bout with Billy Ray Valdez late in round one. The card was headlined by Kegan Gennrich's fifth-round submission win over JaCobi Jones for the LFA lightweight title.

Key moments

• Cageside Press's LFA 174 results confirm the finish: Asplund won by TKO (doctor's stoppage — cut) at 4:48 of round one.
• It was Asplund's second professional fight, coming two months after his TKO debut against Anthony Garrett.
• Combat Press's results report attributes the LFA 174 main event to Kegan Gennrich, who won the LFA lightweight title with a fifth-round arm-triangle-choke submission of JaCobi Jones.

Asplund turned pro about as fast as possible, knocking out Anthony Garrett with punches just 11 seconds into their Ignite Fights Mecca 20 bout in Bloomington, Minnesota. It kicked off a sub-two-year run from the regional Minnesota scene to a UFC contract.

Key moments

• MMA UK's profile of Asplund, written weeks after the fight, records the finish as a TKO at the 11-second mark of round one.
• It was Asplund's professional debut, fighting out of McCune's Martial Arts in Minnesota.
• It was one of what UFC's own Fighter Facts page later tallied as three first-round finishes among Asplund's professional wins.