UFC 331 fight card -- Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja 2: Five biggest storylines to follow in Los Angeles — SkimNews
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- Joshua Van (17-2, age 24) defends his flyweight title against Alexandre Pantoja (30-6, age 36) in a rematch of their UFC 323 bout, where Pantoja suffered an elbow injury 26 seconds into round one and lost via first-round TKO; Van is now a small betting favorite after Pantoja was nearly 3-to-1 in their first meeting last December.
- UFC 331 marks the promotion's first downtown Los Angeles event since UFC 227 in 2018, taking place Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
- Arman Tsarukyan (23-3) meets Mauricio Ruffy (14-2) in the co-feature after Ruffy replaced former lightweight king Charles Oliveira just over one month out; UFC CEO Dana White publicly stated two weeks ago the winner is not guaranteed a title shot, despite the bout widely being viewed as a No. 1 contender's fight.
- Gable Steveson, the 26-year-old 2020 Olympic gold medalist and 5-time NCAA All-American at Minnesota, makes his second UFC appearance against Sean Sharaf (4-2), with Jon Jones serving as his mentor and coach after Steveson's July debut saw him get hit more than expected before finishing Elisha Ellison in under three minutes without using his wrestling.
- Patricio Pitbull (39, former two-division Bellator champion, 1-2 in UFC since 2025) faces Doo-ho Choi (35, South Korea) in a featherweight clash, with Choi riding a three-fight TKO win streak and owning a 2016 Hall of Fame fight against Cub Swanson.
- Tai Tuivasa (33, Australia), riding a 7-fight losing streak and returning badly out of shape in 2026, faces Robelis Despaigne in what appears to be a final UFC opportunity after relocating his camp to American Top Team in Florida.
Why it matters: For Van, a victory would erase lingering 'paper champion' talk that he never truly beat Pantoja, while a Pantoja win would cement his greatness as a 36-year-old veteran reclaiming gold. The Tsarukyan-Ruffy co-feature has lost its guaranteed title-shot framing after White publicly pulled that expectation back, shifting leverage to the matchmaking apparatus rather than the fighters.
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