Joshua Van retains title with unanimous decision over Alexandre Pantoja
Joshua Van goes 25 brutal minutes with Alexandre Pantoja and walks out of Crypto.com Arena not just still champion, but now unquestionably the man at flyweight.
No injury, no asterisk, no shortcuts this time. Just five rounds of violence and nerve, ending with Van’s hand raised by unanimous decision in his second title defense at UFC 331 in Los Angeles.
Van outlasts a furious Pantoja in a classic
Pantoja opened like a man on a mission. He marched forward, mixed sharp punches with well-timed takedowns and tried to bully the champion early. Van, true to type, needed time to warm up. He gave ground, read the patterns, absorbed the pressure.
Then the fight turned ugly for a moment in Round 2.
Pantoja cracked Van with a heavy shot that left the champion wobbling, and as the two closed distance, their heads clashed. Accidental, but violent. Pantoja exploded in protest, demanding Herb Dean take a point. Dean stood firm. No deduction.
From there, the Brazilian doubled down on his wrestling, chaining takedown attempts, trying to drag the contest into his world. Van answered with the kind of cold, clinical work that wins championships. He dug in, found his timing and started slicing Pantoja up with combinations. Each clean connection opened the cuts a little wider, the champion carving his way ahead on the cards while the challenger spent energy forcing scrambles.
By the time the fifth round arrived, the difference in pace and composure was obvious. Pantoja, who had poured everything into the earlier rounds, began to fade. Van did the opposite. He surged.
The Myanmar standout dropped Pantoja in the final frame and pounced, hunting a finish that would have erased all doubt. He locked onto a keylock and came inches from ending the fight on the mat, but the veteran challenger wriggled free and survived. It didn’t matter. Van closed strong, controlled the final moments and left the judges with a simple job.
Scores of 49-46, 49-47 and 50-45 told the story: Van didn’t just keep his belt. He settled the rivalry.
Tsarukyan makes his statement with seconds to spare
Earlier on the main card, Arman Tsarukyan walked in with a clear promise from the UFC: beat Mauricio Ruffy, and you might be next for the title.
He fought like a man who refused to leave that decision up for debate.
Ruffy’s takedown defense held up early. He stuffed the first attempts, kept the fight standing and briefly turned the opening round into a tense, technical battle. Tsarukyan stayed patient. He kept pressing, kept adjusting, and slowly began to break Ruffy’s resistance.
Then, with the horn looming, he detonated.
Tsarukyan found his opening and unleashed a pair of savage elbows that folded Ruffy just four seconds before the end of Round 1. Official time: 4:56 of the first, a knockout that felt like a signature moment.
The lightweight division is crowded, political and unforgiving. After this, the question about Tsarukyan’s title credentials barely feels like a question at all.
Pitbull brings Bellator menace to the Octagon
The “vintage” version of Patricio Pitbull didn’t sneak into the UFC. He arrived tonight.
The former Bellator champion, one of the most decorated lighter-weight fighters of his era, finally produced his first UFC finish — and he did it against a dangerous, crowd-favorite striker in DooHo Choi.
Pitbull came out mean. No long feeling-out process, no slow build. He walked Choi down, forcing the Korean to retreat under a steady stream of pressure and power shots. Choi never settled. He never found his rhythm.
One clean punch on the chin changed everything. Choi crashed to the canvas, and Pitbull swarmed, hammering away with ground-and-pound until the referee stepped in at 3:28 of the first round.
Two wins in the promotion, and now a statement stoppage. The Brazilian didn’t just prove he still belongs at this level. He showed he’s here to cause problems.
Sharaf detonates the heavyweight hype train
Every card needs a shock. UFC 331 found its in 12 wild seconds.
Sean Sharaf, a huge underdog, stepped in against Gable Steveson, the heavyweight prospect many had already penciled in as a future contender. Steveson carried the hype, the pedigree, the expectation.
Sharaf carried a right hand that changed everything.
The American clipped Steveson almost immediately, sending the favorite crashing to the mat. Sharaf didn’t hesitate. He followed with ground-and-pound and forced the stoppage before anyone in the arena had time to process what they were seeing.
From can’t-miss prospect to knockout victim in under a quarter of a minute. From long-shot underdog to headline-maker in one punch. For Sharaf, it was a first UFC win in three tries — and the kind of finish that can redefine a career overnight.
Vera fights for his ranking – and his future
Marlon Vera walked into UFC 331 with his back to the wall. Four straight losses, a top-15 bantamweight ranking hanging by a thread, and a surging Charles Jourdain in front of him on a three-fight win streak.
He responded with the sharpest performance he’s produced in a long time.
Vera beat Jourdain to the punch repeatedly, reading the exchanges and punishing every defensive lapse. He dropped the Canadian three times, each knockdown a louder warning that the tide had turned decisively.
After the third, Jourdain had seen enough. He signaled to the referee, and the fight was waved off at 2:02 of Round 3. Officially a TKO by punches, but in reality it was a man refusing to let his place in the division slip away quietly.
Vera keeps his spot in the bantamweight top 15. More importantly, he reminded everyone — including himself — that he still belongs in that conversation.
O’Neill turns the tables in a heartbeat
Casey O’Neill’s night started badly. Eduarda Moura dragged her into the kind of fight she wanted: early takedown, heavy top control, suffocating pressure. Moura came close to snatching a d’arce choke in the opening round, and for a moment it looked like O’Neill’s three-fight win streak might be in serious danger.
Then came the flip — literally.
Just past the three-minute mark, O’Neill exploded from bottom, elevating Moura and rolling her over. In the same motion, she latched onto an arm. Moura tapped almost instantly to the armbar at 3:22 of the first round.
From defending a choke to forcing a submission in seconds. It was the kind of sudden reversal that sticks in matchmakers’ minds and keeps a flyweight climbing fast.
Elsewhere at UFC 331
The card ran deep with drama and tight scorecards.
Alonzo Menifield edged Iwo Baraniewski by split decision in a tense, physical main-card clash, while Robelis Despaigne did the same to Tai Tuivasa on the prelims, surviving the Australian’s power to earn a narrow nod from two of the three judges.
Edmen Shahbazyan picked up a much-needed unanimous decision over Brunno Ferreira, grinding out rounds and steadying a career that has swung wildly between hype and hard lessons.
Michael Aswell Jr. and JooSang Yoo went to war in another split decision, with Aswell Jr. doing just enough in the eyes of two judges to take it. Ryan Gandra stopped Ozzy Diaz in the first round with punches, and Joanderson Brito blasted through Giga Chikadze in under two minutes, another emphatic featherweight finish on a night full of them.
By the end of it all, one theme held across the Crypto.com Arena: champions dug in, contenders made their cases, and more than one carefully built narrative was shattered by a single clean shot.
Van left with his belt. Tsarukyan left with a title claim. And a lot of fighters left knowing that after UFC 331, the landscape in their divisions just got a little more complicated.
