For the first time since UFC 227 in 2018, the UFC will return to downtown Los Angeles on Saturday as a must-see flyweight title rematch headlines UFC 331 from Crypto.com Arena. Joshua Van (17-2), the 24-year-old breakout star, will make the second defense of his 125-pound title when he meets former champion Alexandre Pantoja (30-6). The two flyweights first squared off last December at UFC 323 in Las Vegas where an elbow injury just 26 seconds in caused Pantoja to lose his title via first-round TKO.
In the co-feature, top lightweights Arman Tsarukyan (23-3) and Mauricio Ruffy (14-2) will meet for an opportunity to take one giant step closer to a title shot with an impressive performance. red event and UFC Fight Night is included with your subscription! Plans start as low as $8.99/month or $89.99/year! As we draw closer to this weekend's event, let's take a closer look at the biggest storylines affecting UFC 331.
When they first met last December, the pound-for-pound ranked Pantoja was nearly a 3-to-1 betting favorite to make his fifth flyweight title defense against the upstart Van. But Pantjoa's injury and Van's strong performance in May, when he outdueled Tatsuro Taira via fifth-round TKO in a thrilling battle for his first title defense, combined to now put the pressure firmly on the shoulders of the 36-year-old Pantoja. Van is a small betting favorite for the rematch and a bit of bad blood between them, which started at the introductory press conference in August to announce the fight, has raised the intensity considerably entering the rematch.
A victory for Van would firmly remove any lingering talk that he's a paper champion and didn't actually beat Pantoja. While the battle-tested veteran, who believes he doesn't get the respect he deserves for taking over the division in recent years, has the opportunity to further cement his greatness by reclaiming the title at an advanced age. At 29, with a 10-2 record inside the Octagon since his 2019 debut, Tsarukyan is clearly one of the most talented and popular UFC fighters to never compete for a championship.
But that certainly isn't the UFC's fault, per se. Tsarukyan infamously pulled out of a UFC 311 title shot, in a rematch against Islam Makhachev, in January 2025 due to a back injury suffered in training just one day before the fight. The incident, combined with Tsarukyan's subsequent reckless behavior outside of the Octagon, led him directly into UFC CEO and president Dana White's doghouse.
To Tsarukyan's credit, he used the time away to build himself into a star on social media and most assumed the matchup against Ruffy, who replaced ceremonial BMF titleholder and former lightweight king Charles Oliveira just over one month out, would be a No. 1 contender's fight to create the next title challenger. Two weeks ago, White publicly put the brakes on the idea that the winner is guaranteed a title shot and instead said he will have to wait and see. But Tsarukyan could certainly sway the boss with a dominant win against a dangerous foe.
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