Detective Acting Inspector Mark Proctor said the fatal stabbing happened within 90 seconds of a couple arriving at the tavern.
"A male person has arrived at the tavern in company with a female and the argument commenced almost directly," Det Insp Proctor said on Friday.
"It was a fight that turned deadly very quickly - it started off as a fight, a knife was produced and ended very quickly.
"It's too easy to lose your life over something that may have just been a minor altercation.
"It turns minor incidents into major incidents and it wrecks lives.
"The whole incident occurred within minutes, approximately 90 seconds."
Tavern staff provided first aid, but the 26-year-old man died in hospital a short time later.
Police said the second man fled the scene before officers arrived.
Police later went to a unit in Mermaid Beach and arrested a man, also 26, who was later charged with murder.
A number of weapons have been seized for testing in an attempt to identify the one used in the attack.
The accused is expected to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on Saturday.
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