Patricio Freire notched his first finish in the UFC in stunning fashion.
On the main card of UFC 331, Freire (38-9 MMA, 2-2 UFC) made his fourth octagon appearance, taking on DooHo Choi. "Pitbull" went the distance in his first three UFC fights, but he was able to knock out Choi (17-5-1 MMA, 6-4-1 UFC) at 3:28 of Round 1.
After a glove touch, the action got going at a steady pace of striking exchanges. Choi, the longer, taller fighter, landed shots from range early, but Freire answered well with solid power shots. A big punch from Freire gave Choi pause, and as the exchanges continued, Freire caught him with another strong shot. A cut was opened over Choi's right eye.
Choi began firing back, keeping Freire honest. However, Freire charged forward,
landing a huge 1-2, ending with a right hand that froze Choi in his tracks. Freire sent him to the canvas and followed up with fight-finishing ground-and-pound.
PATRICIO PITBULL FINISHES DOOHO CHOI
— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) September 20, 2026
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During his post-fight interview, Freire apologized for his prior performances in the UFC. He then made a big callout of a top-five-ranked featherweight.
"Jean Silva, you next," Freire said. "Let's see who is the dog."
With the win, "Pitbull" is back to .500 in the UFC. He now holds wins over Choi and Dan Ige, while his setbacks came against Yair Rodriguez and Aaron Pico.
On the other side, Choi sees a three-fight winning streak come to an end. That run was an all-stoppage run against Bill Algeo, Nate Landwehr, and Daniel Santos.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 331 results:
- Patricio Freire def. Dooho Choi via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:28
- Sean Sharaf def. Gable Steveson via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:12
- Alonzo Menifield def. Iwo Baraniewski via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Marlon Vera def. Charles Jourdain via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:02
- Robelis Despaigne def. Tai Tuivasa via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Michael Aswell def. JooSang Yoo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Ryan Gandra def. Ozzy Diaz via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:04
- Edmen Shahbazyan def. Brunno Ferreira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Casey O'Neill def. Eduarda Moura via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:22
- Joanderson Brito def. Giga Chikadze via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:57
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 331 results: Patricio Freire wrecks DooHo Choi in first, calls out Jean Silva
