UFC 331: Full fight card and everything you need to know for Van v Pantoja 2

Ryan Murray

After being beaten by Joshua Van within 26 seconds when the pair collided at UFC 323, Alexandre Pantoja has the opportunity to avenge this defeat on Saturday evening.

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UFC 331: Van v Pantoja 2 follows last weekend’s thrilling fourth annual ‘Noche’ event, as fans inside Arizona’s Desert Diamond Arena celebrated Mexican Independence Day. However, things didn’t go according to script in the Octagon, as Mexican-American fighter Jose Miguel Delgado succumbed to Jean Silva’s rear-naked choke.

The UFC remains out west for this week’s instalment, as MMA’s leading promotion once again visits the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. This venue last hosted a UFC event back in August 2018, when Californian T.J. Dillashaw successfully defended his bantamweight title on native soil by knocking out Cody Garbrandt in the first round.

There are five main card bouts on Saturday evening, but the mouthwatering clash between Van and Pantoja is the only one where a championship belt could potentially change hands. Before that, seven fights will take place across the early preliminary and preliminary cards, with the action commencing at 22:00 UK time.

UFC 331: Van v Pantoja 2 – Key information

Date: Saturday, September 19th

Start time: Early Preliminaries: 22.00 (BST), Preliminary Card: 00:00 (BST), Main Card: 02:00 (BST)

Venue: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles (California)

TV Channels/Live stream: TNT Sports 1/HBO Max (main card), UFC Fight Pass (early preliminary and preliminary cards)

Main Event Odds: Joshua Van: 10/13, Alexandre Pantoja: 11/10

Odds provided by bet365. The odds, correct at the time of publication, are subject to change.

UFC 331 fight card: Van v Pantoja 2

We’ve provided a brief preview of the five main card bouts scheduled to take place in Los Angeles this weekend:

Flyweight (Main Event): Joshua Van v Alexandre Pantoja

Last December’s sobering defeat in Nevada would have come as a surprise to Pantoja, who relinquished his belt to Van following a run of eight consecutive triumphs. The Brazilian became flyweight champion midway through that impressive sequence, thanks to a split-decision win over Brandon Moreno at UFC Fight Night: Maia v Usman.

He subsequently defended his title on four occasions, edging out Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg via unanimous decision before using the same manoeuvre to force both Kai Asakura and Kai Kara-France into submission.

Joshua Van has only lost once in his distinguished UFC career, when he was punched to the canvas by Charles Johnson way back in July 2024. Moving from strength to strength since then, the Burmese brawler overcame a series of tough opponents to earn a shot at the title, an opportunity he certainly grasped with both hands.

Van has already defended the title he earned by severely injuring Pantoja’s arm within the opening exchanges of their bout, getting the better of Japanese ace Tatsuro Taira in the fifth round of a gruelling ‘Fight of the Night’

Lightweight: Arman Tsarukyan v Maurício Ruffy

Originally slated to face former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira for the second time on Saturday night, Arman Tsarukyan will need to quickly adjust to prepare for the challenge of Maurício Ruffy. Confirmation that Oliveira wouldn’t feature at the Crypto.com Arena came just two days after the death of his Chute Boxing Academy teammate Allan Nascimento, who passed away at the tender age of 34.

The Armenian heads into this one in confident spirits, having claimed the Performance of the Night award in his last outing. That was earned in the main event of the first-ever UFC meeting staged in Qatar, which saw Tsarukyan lock up Dan Hooker in a flawless arm-triangle on Dan Hooker midway through the second round.

Maurício Ruffy is also in decent form, but will nevertheless assume the role of underdog this weekend. A Performance of the Night display against Rafael Fiziev at UFC 325 was followed up by this summer’s commanding victory over Michael Chandler on the South Lawn of the White House, where Ruffy delivered a textbook spinning wheel kick en route to knocking out his opponent.

Featherweight: Patrício Pitbull v Choi Doo-ho

After defending his featherweight belt on his final Bellator appearance in March 2024, Patrício Pitbull secured a contract with the UFC. The feisty Brazilian – who operates under the same nickname as his older brother Patricky – has registered two losses and one victory so far, with all three of his contests determined by unanimous decision.

A landmark triumph over the immensely experienced Dan Ige was sandwiched between back-to-back defeats at Miami’s Kaseya Center, as Pitbull racked up fewer points than Yair Rodríguez and Aaron Pico.

Having gone three fights without a win ahead of his encounter with Kyle Nelson at UFC on ESPN+ 76, Choi Doo-ho would be forgiven for thinking the world was against him when an accidental headbutt swayed the judging panel. The South Korean was controversially deducted one point for his apparent misdemeanour, resulting in the match being declared a majority draw.

However, he’s recovered admirably from this setback. Bill Algeo and Nate Landwehr were subjected to Doo-ho’s wrath during 2024, before Daniel Santos became his latest victim in May of this year. All three of the 35-year-old’s UFC successes have come in Nevada – can he once again strike gold out west?

Light-heavyweight: Alonzo Menifield v Iwo Baraniewski

Alonzo Menifield has recently struggled to string together a consistent set of results, losing three of his last six fights following an impressive five-match unbeaten run.

That said, Menifield will take encouragement from his most recent appearance in the Octagon, which ended with him striking Zhang Mingyang with a sequence of devastating punches. However, he’ll undoubtedly face a difficult test while performing in front of his fellow Californians on Saturday evening.

There’s already plenty of clamour surrounding Polish pugilist Iwo Baraniewski, who has made a blistering start to his UFC career.

The former Judo star eliminated Mahamed Aly within 20 seconds to rubber-stamp his graduation from Dana White’s Contender Series to the big leagues, before dealing with İbo Aslan, Austen Lane, and Junior Tafa in similarly rapid fashion. Each of those three knockouts were deserved of a Performance of the Night award, so confidence is currently extremely high within the Baraniewski camp.

Confirmation of Menifield’s last defeat – a disappointing loss to Volkan Oezdemir at UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan v Hooker – was also sealed in the opening round, so this one is unlikely to go the distance.

Heavyweight: Gable Steveson v Sean Sharaf

Following a lengthy spell as a professional wrestler and a very brief foray in the NFL, Gable Steveson is now hoping to apply his combative skills to mixed martial arts.

The former Buffalo Bills defensive tackle made a single appearance in the LFA, APFC, and Mexico Fight League, beating his opponent in the first round on each occasion. There was a similar ending to his UFC debut earlier this summer, when Steveson’s combination of kicks and punches floored fellow American Elisha Ellison at the T-Mobile Arena.

Meanwhile, Sean Sharaf is searching for a first success following a challenging start to his UFC career. This will be his first outing away from the UFC Apex, where he lost to Junior Tafa and Steven Asplund via technical knockouts.

That elusive maiden win could have potentially come against a struggling Tai Tuivasa (another competitor in action this Saturday night), who had lost six on the bounce prior to their scheduled bout at UFC Fight Night 275. However, Sharaf was forced to withdraw after breaking his nose in training, enabling Louie Sutherland to step in as a replacement.

The bookmakers expect Steveson to register a comfortable win, but the Anaheim-born scrapper will want to put on a positive display in his native state.

UFC 331 full fight cards: Van v Pantoja 2

Confirmation of all 12 contests below:

Main Card

Joshua Van v Alexandre Pantoja (for the flyweight championship)

Arman Tsarukyan v Maurício Ruffy

Patrício Pitbull v Choi Doo-ho

Alonzo Menifield v Iwo Baraniewski

Gable Steveson v Sean Sharaf

Preliminary Card

Marlon Vera v Charles Jourdain (bantamweight bout)

Tai Tuivasa v Robelis Despaigne

Michael Aswell Jr. v Yoo Joo-sang

Ryan Gandra v Osman Diaz

Early Preliminary Card

Edmen Shahbazyan v Brunno Ferreira

Casey O'Neill v Eduarda Moura

Giga Chikadze v Joanderson Brito

Where to watch on TV or live stream?

TNT Sports is providing exclusive live coverage of UFC331’s main card, which, for those based in the United Kingdom, will actually take place during the early hours of Sunday morning. The action will be televised from 02:00 BST on TNT Sports 1, available on Sky channel 410 and Virgin Media channel 527.

Online viewers can follow events in Los Angeles via HBO Max, the official streaming partner of TNT Sports.

Long before the headline clash between Van and Pantoja, the fighters billed on the early preliminary and preliminary cards take centre stage. These will be shown on the UFC Fight Pass app, with the opening bout scheduled for 22:00 BST.

The UFC Fight Pass is a subscription-based service that enables customers to watch the first few hours of every major event, while also providing access to a range of other features such as original UFC shows & series, highlights and analysis, and a comprehensive archive of memorable MMA moments. When creating a new account, customers can pay £7.99 per month within a rolling contract or a one-off annual fee of £46.79. As the yearly option works out to be more than 50 per cent cheaper over the course of a 12-month period, it’s better to opt for the lump sum.