LOS ANGELES, United States, September 20, 2026: Joshua Van finally got the kind of victory over Alexandre Pantoja that their first fight never allowed him to earn.
The 24-year-old flyweight champion went five full rounds with the former titleholder at UFC 331 inside Crypto.com Arena and retained his belt by unanimous decision, winning 49-46, 50-45 and 48-47 on the judges’ scorecards.
Van landed 181 significant strikes to Pantoja’s 147 and 259 total strikes to 159, while also scoring the fight’s only knockdown. Pantoja still imposed long stretches of grappling pressure, completing five of 18 takedowns and accumulating 9:11 of control time, but Van repeatedly escaped, returned to his feet and produced the cleaner sustained damage.
The result answered the central question raised in The Sports Encounter’s UFC 331 preview. Van’s first victory over Pantoja at UFC 323 ended after only 26 seconds because of the Brazilian’s elbow injury. This time there was no injury-shortened ending and no uncertainty about whether the champion could survive Pantoja’s pressure across a complete title fight.
Story at a glance
UFC 331 Results at a Glance
The official UFC 331 main-card results, preliminary-card report and official scorecards confirm the event’s finishes and decisions.
Joshua Van Wins the Fight the First Meeting Never Gave Him
Van entered UFC 331 as champion, but the circumstances surrounding his first victory over Pantoja still followed him.
Van’s Win Changes the Flyweight Conversation
The most important consequence is that Van no longer needs to explain how he became champion.
Arman Tsarukyan Needed 4:56 to Strengthen His Title Claim
If Van settled one championship question, Tsarukyan created another.
Sean Sharaf Produces the Shock of UFC 331 in 12 Seconds
Gable Steveson arrived carrying one of the most recognizable amateur wrestling résumés in heavyweight combat sports.
The rest of the card produced consequences just as sharp. Arman Tsarukyan knocked Mauricio Ruffy unconscious with elbows four seconds before the end of Round 1, Sean Sharaf stunned heavily favored Gable Steveson in 12 seconds, Patrício Pitbull stopped Dooho Choi in the opening round and Marlon Vera ended a four-fight skid.
UFC 331 Results at a Glance
| Fight | Result |
|---|---|
| Joshua Van vs Alexandre Pantoja | Van won by unanimous decision, 49-46, 50-45, 48-47 |
| Arman Tsarukyan vs Mauricio Ruffy | Tsarukyan won by KO, elbows, Round 1, 4:56 |
| Patrício Pitbull vs Dooho Choi | Pitbull won by KO, strikes, Round 1, 3:28 |
| Gable Steveson vs Sean Sharaf | Sharaf won by KO, left hand, Round 1, 0:12 |
| Alonzo Menifield vs Iwo Baraniewski | Menifield won by split decision, 28-29, 29-28, 29-28 |
| Marlon Vera vs Charles Jourdain | Vera won by TKO, strikes, Round 3, 2:02 |
| Tai Tuivasa vs Robelis Despaigne | Despaigne won by split decision |
| Michael Aswell Jr. vs Joo Sang Yoo | Aswell won by split decision |
| Ryan Gandra vs Ozzy Diaz | Gandra won by KO, Round 1, 2:04 |
| Edmen Shahbazyan vs Brunno Ferreira | Shahbazyan won by unanimous decision |
| Casey O’Neill vs Eduarda Moura | O’Neill won by armbar, Round 1, 3:20 |
| Giga Chikadze vs Joanderson Brito | Brito won by KO, strikes, Round 1, 1:57 |
The official UFC 331 main-card results, preliminary-card report and official scorecards confirm the event’s finishes and decisions.
Joshua Van Wins the Fight the First Meeting Never Gave Him
Van entered UFC 331 as champion, but the circumstances surrounding his first victory over Pantoja still followed him.
Pantoja’s elbow injury at UFC 323 ended that fight before any meaningful tactical pattern could develop. Van officially won the championship, then strengthened his claim by stopping Tatsuro Taira in the fifth round at UFC 328, but Pantoja remained the opponent capable of reopening the original debate.
The rematch removed that debate.
Pantoja immediately attacked the champion’s weakest theoretical area. He secured an early takedown and repeatedly looked to turn the fight into the clinch-heavy, scramble-driven contest that had defined his championship run.
The former champion finished with five takedowns and more than nine minutes of control. Those numbers would normally suggest a fight built around positional dominance.
Van changed the meaning of them.
Each time he returned to his feet, the striking exchanges increasingly favored him. He landed 181 significant strikes, 34 more than Pantoja, and attacked the head particularly effectively, landing 158 head strikes according to the official fight statistics.
Van’s Best Adjustment Was Refusing to Let Control Become Damage
Pantoja succeeded in getting the fight to the floor. He struggled to turn those positions into enough offense to outweigh what happened when the fighters separated.
That distinction became more important with every round.
Van did not need to stop every takedown. He needed to avoid extended damage, create stand-ups and make the striking minutes more valuable than Pantoja’s control minutes.
By the fifth, he had done exactly that.
The champion scored the only knockdown of the fight in the final round and closed with enough authority that the decision itself was clear, even if the individual scorecards varied.
Van improves to 18-2 and now owns two successful title defenses after entering the year with questions about how his championship reign had begun.
Van’s Win Changes the Flyweight Conversation
The most important consequence is that Van no longer needs to explain how he became champion.
His title history now includes a fifth-round stoppage of Taira and a five-round decision over Pantoja, one of the most accomplished flyweights of his generation.
The Sports Encounter’s UFC 330 analysis of Islam Makhachev and Ian Machado Garry examined how championship legitimacy can change when a champion keeps answering different tactical questions.
Van is beginning to build a similar type of evidence at flyweight.
Taira required patience across five rounds. Pantoja required survival in grappling exchanges and precision once the fight returned to open space.
Van solved both.
Arman Tsarukyan Needed 4:56 to Strengthen His Title Claim
If Van settled one championship question, Tsarukyan created another.
Mauricio Ruffy entered with 13 knockouts from 14 professional victories and immediately reminded Tsarukyan why his striking carried so much danger. The Brazilian landed a hard right hand early, forcing the Armenian to change the character of the fight.
Tsarukyan moved toward his grappling, pressured Ruffy against the fence and repeatedly worked for takedowns.
Ruffy defended them.
The fight still ended from the clinch.
With only four seconds remaining in the opening round, Tsarukyan fired short elbows along the fence. The final shot landed clean enough to switch Ruffy off before the horn could save him.
The knockout takes Tsarukyan to six consecutive victories and strengthens a title argument that was already central to TSE’s pre-fight UFC 331 analysis.
Tsarukyan entered knowing another setback could push him away from the lightweight championship queue. He left Los Angeles with the kind of finish that forces the division to reconsider how long he should have to wait.
Sean Sharaf Produces the Shock of UFC 331 in 12 Seconds
Gable Steveson arrived carrying one of the most recognizable amateur wrestling résumés in heavyweight combat sports.
His UFC 331 appearance lasted 12 seconds.
Sharaf stepped into range, absorbed a low kick and landed a left hand that snapped Steveson’s head backward. The fight ended almost immediately.
For Steveson, the loss is a brutal reminder that elite wrestling credentials do not automatically remove the risk created by heavyweight striking.
For Sharaf, it is the kind of result that can redefine a career overnight.
The broader relationship between grappling backgrounds and professional MMA has been a recurring theme in TSE’s UFC coverage. Our Makhachev-Garry analysis examined how wrestling credibility can shape entire tactical matchups. Sharaf demonstrated the other side of that equation: none of those advantages matter if the fight ends before the grappling phase begins.
Patrício Pitbull Finds His Best UFC Finish Yet
Patrício Pitbull entered the event still trying to translate his long championship résumé into consistent UFC success.
Dooho Choi gave him exactly the kind of fight where timing and power would matter.
Pitbull found both.
A clean right hand hurt Choi late in the opening round before follow-up strikes forced the stoppage at 3:28.
The 38-year-old improves to 2-2 in the UFC and keeps himself relevant in a featherweight division where his experience remains an asset, provided he can still produce this level of speed and finishing power.
Marlon Vera Stops the Slide
Marlon Vera’s preliminary-card victory may carry almost as much personal significance as several main-card results.
Vera entered against Charles Jourdain having lost four consecutive fights.
Another defeat would have changed the conversation around his future dramatically.
Instead, Vera gradually took control and stopped Jourdain with strikes at 2:02 of Round 3.
The victory gives the former title challenger his 10th UFC win and provides badly needed momentum after the most difficult sequence of his career.
Casey O’Neill and Joanderson Brito Add Early Finishes
The early card also produced two performances worth carrying forward.
Casey O’Neill submitted Eduarda Moura with an armbar at 3:20 of Round 1 after escaping a dangerous D’Arce choke attempt. The transition from defense into the finishing sequence was one of the cleanest grappling moments on the card.
Joanderson Brito needed only 1:57 to stop Giga Chikadze with strikes, immediately changing his position in the featherweight conversation.
Ryan Gandra also scored a first-round knockout, stopping Ozzy Diaz at 2:04.
UFC 331 Arrived During a Bigger Moment for MMA
The event landed during an unusually important month for mixed martial arts beyond the UFC.
MMA is making its Asian Games debut at Aichi-Nagoya 2026, where six medal events bring the sport into a national-team environment for the first time at the continental Games. The Sports Encounter’s complete Asian Games preview explains how the sport fits into the expanded 43-sport program.
The Aichi-Nagoya opening ceremony report also examined what MMA’s inclusion says about how quickly the sport has moved into mainstream multi-sport competition.
UFC 331 represented the elite professional end of that spectrum. The Asian Games represent another development route entirely.
Both point toward the same reality: combat sports are competing for a broader global audience, whether through professional championships, national teams or major multi-sport events.
What Comes Next After UFC 331?
Van leaves Los Angeles with a stronger claim to being the established flyweight champion rather than the beneficiary of an unusual title change.
Tsarukyan leaves with a much louder argument for the next lightweight championship opportunity.
Sharaf leaves with the kind of knockout that can transform matchmaking immediately.
Pitbull remains alive in the featherweight picture, while Vera finally has momentum again.
The UFC’s September schedule continues on September 26 when Raul Rosas Jr. faces Raoni Barcelos in Las Vegas, an event already tracked in The Sports Encounter’s Upcoming Sports Encounters calendar.
Combat-sports attention also remains high outside MMA. The Sports Encounter’s September and October boxing preview tracks several title fights with similarly immediate career consequences, while the continuing uncertainty around Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk shows how quickly a single result or negotiation can redirect the top of a combat-sports division.
Continue the UFC/MMA Story
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won Joshua Van vs Alexandre Pantoja 2?
Joshua Van defeated Alexandre Pantoja by unanimous decision to retain the UFC flyweight championship at UFC 331.
What were the Van vs Pantoja scorecards?
The judges scored the fight 49-46, 50-45 and 48-47 for Joshua Van.
How many significant strikes did Joshua Van land?
Van landed 181 significant strikes compared with Pantoja’s 147.
How many takedowns did Alexandre Pantoja complete?
Pantoja completed five of 18 takedown attempts and recorded 9:11 of control time.
Who won Arman Tsarukyan vs Mauricio Ruffy?
Tsarukyan knocked out Ruffy with elbows at 4:56 of the first round.
What happened to Gable Steveson at UFC 331?
Sean Sharaf knocked Steveson out with a left hand only 12 seconds into Round 1.
Who won Patrício Pitbull vs Dooho Choi?
Patrício Pitbull stopped Choi by strikes at 3:28 of Round 1.
Did Marlon Vera win at UFC 331?
Yes. Vera stopped Charles Jourdain by TKO at 2:02 of Round 3 and ended his four-fight losing streak.
Where was UFC 331 held?
UFC 331 took place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on September 19, 2026.
