UFC 331 results, takeaways: Joshua Van emerges as a top talent; Arman Tsarukyan earns his title shot — SkimNews
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- Joshua Van defended his flyweight title for the second time, winning a five-round decision over former champion Alexandre Pantoja in the UFC 331 main event at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles — UFC's first event there in eight years.
- Van, a 24-year-old from Myanmar, has fought 12 times in just over three years with the UFC and showcased a kimura submission attempt and world-class takedown defense against the decorated Brazilian black belt Pantoja.
- Arman Tsarukyan knocked out Mauricio Ruffy in the first round of the co-main event — his sixth straight win — positioning him for a lightweight title shot roughly 20 months after withdrawing from a UFC 311 title opportunity on 24 hours' notice due to injury.
- Gable Steveson, a 2020 Olympic gold medalist and five-time NCAA All-American installed as a -2400 betting favorite, was knocked out cold by +1100 underdog Sean Sharaf just 12 seconds into their bout — one of the largest upsets by odds in UFC history, per the article.
- Undercard results included Marlon Vera's third-round TKO of Charles Jourdain at bantamweight, Patricio Pitbull's first-round stoppage of Dooho Choi, Casey O'Neil's armbar submission of Eduarda Moura from the bottom, and Alonzo Menifield's split-decision win over Iwo Baraniewski despite fighting two rounds with a broken left thumb.
- Heavyweight Tai Tuivasa fell to Robelis Despaigne in a split decision, extending his losing streak to seven.
- Steveson had accumulated just over nine minutes of pro fight time across four first-round finishes heading in and was booed by the crowd and criticized by analyst Daniel Cormier for exiting the Octagon before Sharaf's hand was raised.
Why it matters: Tsarukyan's sixth straight win and first-round KO should end talk of Justin Gaethje granting Ilia Topuria an immediate lightweight rematch, per the article. Van's five-round dominance over former champion Pantoja pushes the 24-year-old into pound-for-pound conversation. And Steveson's 12-second KO loss — entering as a -2400 favorite — exposes how raw the Olympic-wrestling-to-MMA pipeline remains despite elite athletic credentials.
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