UFC 331: Joshua Van Puts On A Show In L.A.
by Javier Albite
UFC 331 was this past Saturday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. Headlined by the highly anticipated rematch between champion Joshua Van and former champion Alexandre Pantoja, the West Coast showed out for its first event in years. The sold-out arena of nearly 19,500 people included celebrities like Avatar director James Cameron, socialite Kourtney Kardashian, comedian Martin Lawrence, and Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis, among others. UFC 331 is a new favorite for event of the year.
Background
Back in December 2025 at UFC 323 in Las Vegas, the young top contender Van faced veteran champion Pantoja after defeating the number-one contender in his division that June. Unfortunately, just 26 seconds in, Pantoja fell and awkwardly dislocated his elbow, stopping the fight and making Van the second-youngest champion in UFC history at just 24 years old. This led many fans to call him a fake champ, an insult he took personally. While Pantoja was out, Van came back 5 months later at UFC 328 to defend his title against top contender Tatsuro Taira. Van completely dominated Taira in an upset which many fans considered an early contender for Fight Of The Year. However, some still weren't satisfied, and he set out to prove everyone wrong when he called out Pantoja in the audience in New Jersey. The promotion set the rematch for September, and things got heated between the two very quickly when it came time for the press conference, where they shoved each other and were separated by Dana White. Top lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan, who fought in the co-main event, also gained publicity for announcing he was adding streamer N3on to his corner, even walking out to his song "She Wanna Hang With An Indian".
Main Card Results
Alonzo Menifield (+210 underdog) def. Iwo Baraniewski (-260 favorite) by Split Decision (light heavyweight bout)
Menifield gets an upset win, giving rising contender Baraniewski his first loss and getting his bone poked out of his finger in the process.
Sean Sharaf (+875 underdog) def. Gable Steveson (-2000 favorite) by Round 1 KO (heavyweight bout)
Sharaf pulls off the biggest upset in UFC history and knocks out Olympic gold medalist and Jon Jones protegée Steveson in just 12 seconds.
Patrício Pitbull (+210 underdog) def. Doo-ho Choi (-280 favorite) by Round 1 TKO (featherweight bout)
Pitbull follows the decades-long tradition of knocking out Koreans who are supposed to be rising contenders.
Arman Tsarukyan (-305 favorite) def. Maurício Ruffy (+245 underdog) by Round 1 KO (5-round lightweight bout)
Tsarukyan knocks Ruffy out cold with an elbow after N3on screamed it out from the corner, earning him Performance Of The Night.
Joshua Van (-166 favorite) def. Alexandre Pantoja (+140 underdog) by Unanimous Decision (flyweight title fight)
Van proves his legitimacy in an absolute war with Pantoja, earning Fight Of The Night and possibly Fight Of The Year.
What's Next?
Alonzo Menifield has now proved his place in the top 15, and I think a matchup against Bogdan Guskov would be the best place to go from here.
Sean Sharaf definitely put on a legendary performance, but I think he should face another unranked opponent like Robelis Despaigne to prove this wasn't a fluke.
Patrício Pitbull should face someone like Youssef Zalal now that they're both in the same place of "possible contenders who keep losing big fights".
Arman Tsarukyan's most obvious next matchup is Justin Gaethje for the title, and that seems to be the direction the UFC is going in.
Joshua Van is now a proven force at flyweight, and another volume striker like Manel Kape is honestly the only one way I see him being dethroned.
Who do you think will headline 335?
Strickland vs. Imavov 2
Makhachev vs. Prates
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