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UFC 331 Main Card Set With Van Vs. Pantoja 2 Main Event

Forbes Published Aug 17, 2026 Reviewed Aug 17, 2026 ✓ Reviewed by citations.press editors

UFC 331 is scheduled to take place on September 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

The bout between Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 323 ended in 26 seconds due to an injury stoppage.

26 seconds · Joshua Van vs Alexandre Pantoja bout at UFC 323

Alexandre Pantoja's reign as UFC flyweight champion ended after four successful title defenses.

4 · Alexandre Pantoja

The co‑main event of UFC 331 is a lightweight title eliminator scheduled for five rounds.

5 · UFC 331 co‑main event

Joshua Van's May title defense win over Tatsuro Taira ended via TKO in the fifth round.

5 · Joshua Van vs Tatsuro Taira

Arman Tsarukyan holds a professional record of 23 wins and 3 losses.

23 wins · Arman Tsarukyan3 losses · Arman Tsarukyan

Mauricio Ruffy holds a professional record of 14 wins and 2 losses.

14 wins · Mauricio Ruffy2 losses · Mauricio Ruffy

Joshua Van holds a professional record of 17 wins and 2 losses.

17 wins · Joshua Van2 losses · Joshua Van

Alexandre Pantoja holds a professional record of 30 wins and 6 losses.

30 wins · Alexandre Pantoja6 losses · Alexandre Pantoja

UFC 331 is officially set for September 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, featuring a highly anticipated main card. The headline bout is a rematch for the UFC flyweight championship between current titleholder Joshua Van and former champion Alexandre Pantoja. Van previously claimed the belt from Pantoja at UFC 323 due to an injury stoppage just 26 seconds into their fight, ending Pantoja's four-defense reign. The co-main event is a crucial lightweight title eliminator, pitting Arman Tsarukyan against Mauricio Ruffy in a five-round contest, with the victor expected to challenge champion Justin Gaethje next. Tsarukyan recently beat Dan Hooker, while Ruffy secured a TKO win over Michael Chandler. The full main card was announced during the recent UFC 330 event.

The next numbered event on the UFC schedule, UFC 331, has its main card set. That Paramount+ streaming event takes place in Los Angeles at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday, September 19.

At the top of the card is a rematch between current UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van and the man he took that title from, Alexandre Pantoja. Meanwhile, in the evening’s co-main event, the fight promotion has booked what appears to be a lightweight title eliminator. In that matchup, Arman Tsarukyan faces Mauricio Ruffy. The winner of the five-round lightweight contest is likely to move on to meet champion Justin Gaethje.

The UFC announced the five-fight UFC 331 main card during Saturday’s UFC 330 fight card, which saw welterweight champion Islam Makhachev retain his title with a unanimous decision win over Ian Machado Garry in the main event.

Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja
Arman Tsarukyan vs. Maurício Ruffy
Patrício Pitbull vs. Dooho Choi
Renato Moicano vs. Brian Ortega
Alonzo Menifield vs. Iwo Baraniewski

Van (17-2) and Pantoja (30-6) faced off at UFC 323 in December. The bout lasted just 26 seconds, as an injury to Pantoja’s left arm as he fell to the mat left him unable to continue. The TKO loss ended Pantoja’s title run after four successful defenses. He initially won the UFC’s 125-pound crown in July 2023 with a split-decision win over Brandon Moreno. Pantoja’s title defense wins came against Brandon Royval (decision), Kai Asakura (submission), and Kai Kara-France (submission).

Van is coming off a May title defense win over Tatsuro Taira. That fight ended via TKO in the fifth round.

The co-main event of UFC 331 is scheduled for five rounds, which should give fight fans some indication that the promotion is treating the matchup between Tsarukyan (23-3) and Ruffy (14-2) as something special.

Tsarukyan was scheduled to face Islam Makhachev in a title fight at UFC 311 at Crypto.com Arena, but was forced from that event on weigh-in day. Tsarukyan has fought once since then, beating Dan Hooker via submission in November.

Ruffy is coming off a June TKO victory over Michael Chandler at the White House in June.

We will have more on UFC 331 as fight night approaches.

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