UFC 331: Van outlasts Pantoja to retain flyweight title

Interesting admin September 20, 2026 0 Comments

UFC 331: Van outlasts Pantoja to retain flyweight title

In the main event of UFC 331 in Los Angeles on Saturday night, undisputed flyweight champion Joshua Van (18-2 MMA) of Myanmar cemented his reign atop the 125-pound division, defeating former champion Alexandre Pantoja (30-7 MMA) of Brazil via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-47, 50-45).

With the victory, the 24-year-old Van erased any lingering doubts from their first meeting at UFC 323 in December, where an arm injury halted Pantoja just 26 seconds into the bout. This time, over 25 grueling championship minutes, Van proved his mettle by outstriking the 36-year-old Brazilian legend and making crucial defensive adjustments on the canvas.

Pantoja brought immediate heat from the opening bell, refusing a touch of gloves before securing a body lock takedown inside the first 10 seconds and hunting for mount. Van stayed composed, powering back to his feet and answering with crisp combinations and sweeping elbows. The intensity surged in the second frame following an accidental clash of heads that opened a cut above Pantoja’s left eye, with Van finding a regular home for his jab while Pantoja answered with a late takedown and body triangle.

After a competitive third round highlighted by Van’s crisp boxing volleys and perimeter takedown defense, Pantoja swung momentum back in the fourth. The veteran clamped down with suffocating top control from side control and half guard, grinding on the champion with short elbows to force a winner-take-all final five minutes.

With the title on the line, Van authored a dominant fifth frame. Van walked Pantoja down with multi-punch flurries, dropping the challenger with a flush one-two before advancing to top position with ground-and-pound. Van shut down Pantoja’s desperate late wrestling attempts and picked him apart on the feet until the final horn sounded.

“Doubt me now … Pantoja is hard to finish,” Van said inside the Octagon following the win.

Pantoja did not conduct a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, exiting the Octagon shortly after the official decision was read.

In the co-main event, top lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan (24-3 MMA) cemented his claim as the division’s undisputed No. 1 contender, scoring a brutal standing elbow knockout over Brazil’s Mauricio Ruffy (14-3 MMA) at 4:56 of Round 1 of their scheduled five-round, non-title fight.

After eating a clean right hand in the opening moments, Armenia’s Tsarukyan shifted to his wrestling, but Ruffy defended well against the fence to keep the fight standing. After clinching against the cage in the closing seconds of the round, Tsarukyan broke free and unleashed a devastating pair of short, hard elbows that landed flush, knocking Ruffy out cold with just four seconds remaining.

Following the emphatic stoppage, Tsarukyan immediately called for a title shot inside the Octagon, jokingly saying he would call out Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg if the UFC didn’t act accordingly. The victory extends Tsarukyan’s winning streak to six — with four of his last five coming inside the distance.

In featherweight action, former four-time, two-division Bellator champion Patricio Pitbull (38-9 MMA) earned his first UFC stoppage win, dismantling South Korea’s Dooho Choi (17-5-1 MMA) via TKO at 3:28 of the opening round.

Brazil’s Pitbull overwhelmed Choi with sharp volume striking before landing a devastating right hand that forced the referee to step in and stop the contest. Pitbull snapped a three-fight finishing streak for Choi, a promotional mainstay who has competed under the UFC banner since 2014.

At heavyweight, Sean Sharaf (5-2 MMA) pulled off one of the year’s most stunning upsets, needing just 12 seconds to shock Gable Steveson (4-1 MMA) with a first-round TKO.

Steveson entered the Octagon as a massive betting favorite, but Sharaf caught him immediately in the opening exchange, unleashing a blistering flurry of strikes that forced a lightning-fast stoppage. The 12-second finish marked the third-fastest knockout in UFC heavyweight history.

A visibly frustrated Steveson refused to remain inside the Octagon as Sharaf had his hand officially raised, while Sharaf celebrated the landmark victory in front of an electric crowd.

Kicking off the main card, veteran Alonzo Menifield (16-5-1 MMA) showed his trademark grit and durability, overcoming a compound fracture in his left thumb to defeat Poland’s Iwo Baraniewski (9-1 MMA) via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) at light heavyweight.

Menifield leaned on his veteran savvy throughout the 15-minute grinder, battling through a gruesome hand injury to edge out Baraniewski on two of the three judges’ scorecards, handing Baraniewski his first professional defeat.

During Saturday’s broadcast, UFC 334 was officially announced for Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York, headlined by a championship doubleheader.

Newly promoted undisputed heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane will defend his title against Josh Hokit — with former champion Tom Aspinall sidelined due to ongoing eye injuries — alongside the rebooked women’s bantamweight championship clash between reigning champion Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes.

This story was originally published September 20, 2026 at 12:43 AM.