Dong Hyun Kim Reacts to UFC 331: A Night That Kept Defying His Predictions

Dong Hyun Kim reacts to a chaotic UFC 331 as unexpected finishes, Doo Ho Choi’s loss and a thrilling main event repeatedly challenge his pre-fight expectations.

Former UFC welterweight contender Dong Hyun Kim sat down to watch UFC 331 expecting to break down the action through the eyes of a veteran fighter.

By the end of the night, even Kim was struggling to explain what he had just watched.

Joined by Korean lightweight veteran Kyung Pyo Kim, “Stun Gun” reacted to a card filled with unexpected results, dramatic finishes and a main event between Alexandre Pantoja and Joshua Van that had him repeatedly questioning how the pace could possibly continue.

“Why are the fights like this today?” Kim said during the broadcast.

It became a fitting summary of UFC 331.

An Emotional Start With Joo Sang Yoo

Dong Hyun Kim had a personal connection to the opening Korean storyline of the night as Joo Sang Yoo faced Michael Aswell Jr.

Having trained with Yoo earlier in his career, Kim remembered him as one of the hardest-working fighters he had encountered.

“He was one of the fighters I really wanted to see succeed,” Kim said, recalling how Yoo would continue pushing through training even when his body was hurting badly enough that Kim would tell him to rest.

That familiarity made the fight difficult for Kim to watch calmly.

He praised Yoo’s use of kicks to manage distance and recognized the strategy behind keeping Aswell at range before choosing when to enter. Aswell’s pressure, however, turned the fight into a tense striking battle that had Kim surprised by how quickly the rounds were passing.

By the final round, Kim believed Yoo had begun finding his best moments.

He saw the opening round for Aswell and the third for Yoo, leaving the second as the critical round in determining the decision.

Yoo ultimately suffered a split-decision loss, but Kim’s reaction afterward remained optimistic.

Kim pointed to Yoo’s striking, grappling, defensive wrestling and natural star potential, arguing that the UFC audience still had not seen everything the Korean featherweight was capable of showing.

Revisiting Kyung Pyo Kim vs. Arman Tsarukyan

Between UFC 331 fights, Dong Hyun Kim and Kyung Pyo Kim revisited the latter’s 2017 fight against Arman Tsarukyan.

The matchup has taken on an entirely different meaning nearly a decade later as Tsarukyan has developed into one of the elite lightweights in the sport.

Watching it again, Dong Hyun Kim appeared increasingly impressed by how well Kyung Pyo Kim had dealt with Tsarukyan’s wrestling.

At several points, he noted how exhausted Tsarukyan appeared — only for him to continue shooting takedowns and forcing another grappling exchange.

It reminded Kim of his own UFC experience against Colby Covington.

Kim explained that one of the dangerous mistakes a fighter can make is believing an opponent is finished simply because he looks exhausted. Some fighters can appear completely spent and still maintain their pace.

Kyung Pyo Kim admitted that he had made a similar mistake against Tsarukyan. After surviving the opening round and seeing Tsarukyan breathing heavily, his corner believed the Russian-Armenian fighter was beginning to fade.

He wasn’t.

Looking back at the fight now, Dong Hyun Kim described it as two fighters essentially discovering that the man standing across from them was considerably stronger than expected.

Doo Ho Choi’s Fight Turns the Mood

The most personal moment of the night came when Doo Ho Choi entered the Octagon against Patrício Pitbull.

Kim and Choi have known each other for years and trained together dating back to their time in Busan.

Kim described Choi’s striking as having evolved from the longer combinations of his younger years into shorter, tighter punches backed by the same unusual power.

He could already picture how the fight might unfold.

Choi would establish his jab, keep a stronger guard and eventually allow his punching power to take over.

But Kim also identified the biggest variable: experience.

Pitbull had spent his career fighting elite opposition, surviving difficult exchanges and seeing virtually every type of fight imaginable.

That experience quickly became apparent.

As Choi began absorbing clean shots, Kim’s technical commentary turned increasingly emotional.

“Don’t. Don’t. Move,” Kim urged as the momentum shifted.

After the finish, Kim could only acknowledge what Pitbull’s performance demonstrated.

“A veteran is a veteran.”

Kim noted that despite the significant reach difference, Pitbull understood how to enter the necessary range and land against Choi — the kind of knowledge that comes from years of facing different styles at the highest level.

Arman Tsarukyan Survives a Dangerous Mauricio Ruffy

Dong Hyun Kim expected Arman Tsarukyan to defeat Mauricio Ruffy.

On paper, the stylistic reasoning was straightforward.

Ruffy represented the more dangerous pure striker, while Tsarukyan possessed the wrestling and grappling advantage that Kim believed would become extremely difficult to escape once he established control.

But UFC 331 had already produced enough surprises that Kim was becoming suspicious of every prediction.

Ruffy then gave him reason to be.

His takedown defense impressed Kim early, and Tsarukyan appeared to be spending considerably more energy than expected trying to establish his grappling.

Kim began wondering whether the fight was moving in Ruffy’s direction.

Then Tsarukyan found something else.

Late in the opening round, he landed an elbow from the clinch that dramatically changed the fight.

Kim was stunned.

“I never expected that,” he said.

For Kim, the finish demonstrated something particularly dangerous about elite grapplers developing their striking. When opponents spend an entire training camp preparing for the takedown, the expectation of wrestling itself can create opportunities for strikes.

The win also led back to the man sitting beside him.

Every Tsarukyan victory seems to bring renewed attention to Kyung Pyo Kim’s performance against him years earlier.

Kyung Pyo Kim joked that what once looked like a worthless stock now seemed to be skyrocketing.

If Tsarukyan eventually reaches UFC gold, he admitted he would be happy to see it.

Pantoja vs. Van Leaves Kim Stunned

Then came the main event.

Kim initially leaned toward Alexandre Pantoja, believing the champion’s grappling — particularly his ability to take the back — could create serious problems for Joshua Van.

What followed became one of the most animated portions of the entire reaction.

From the opening round, Van’s scrambling ability forced Pantoja to work for every position. Kim was impressed by the champion’s transitions but also noticed that Pantoja’s control was not always producing meaningful offense.

Under modern UFC judging criteria, Kim began questioning whether control alone would be enough.

After the first two rounds, he leaned toward Van.

Then the fight accelerated.

Van began finding combinations on the feet while Pantoja continued threatening with grappling transitions whenever the striking appeared to be moving against him.

Kim couldn’t believe the pace.

“Are flyweight fights this fun?”

As combinations accumulated, Kim estimated that the main event might have already produced more punches than the rest of the UFC card combined.

Van would attack.

Pantoja would answer.

A scramble would begin.

Another striking exchange would immediately follow.

Neither fighter seemed willing to slow down.

“This is a crazy fight,” Kim said.

By the later rounds, his reaction had moved almost entirely beyond technical analysis.

He was simply watching.

When Van unleashed another extended combination, Kim began shouting that the fight might be over. When the action continued, his reaction became even louder.

“This is insane.”

Then came perhaps his strongest assessment of Van.

“He’s a star. A world star.”

Kim was particularly struck by Van’s ability to maintain an entertaining, aggressive style deep into the fight while continuing to defend dangerous grappling positions.

He even called for another meeting between the two.

“I want to see them fight one more time. A trilogy. This is so much fun.”

A UFC 331 Kim Didn’t Expect

By the conclusion of the event, Kim’s predictions almost felt secondary.

The night had repeatedly forced him to reconsider what he thought was about to happen.

He expected Choi’s power to create one type of fight, only for Pitbull’s veteran experience to take over.

He expected Tsarukyan’s wrestling to be the defining weapon against Ruffy, only for a clinch elbow to produce one of the night’s defining moments.

And he entered the main event analyzing Pantoja’s grappling advantage before becoming absorbed by the pace, scrambles and exchanges between the champion and Van.

For someone who spent years competing inside the UFC Octagon, Kim has seen nearly every kind of fight.

UFC 331 still managed to surprise him.

“Every fight today had so much impact,” Kim said as the broadcast came to an end.

Kyung Pyo Kim agreed.

Beyond Tsarukyan’s performance — a result that carried some personal meaning for him — his takeaway was much simpler.

“Every fight was so much fun.”

For one night, the former fighters weren’t much different from everyone else watching.

They thought they knew what was coming.

UFC 331 had other plans.

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