LOS ANGELES — In a high-stakes main event that delivered on its promise of high-level martial arts action, Joshua Van put on a striking masterclass to secure a unanimous-decision victory over Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331 on Saturday night, retaining his undisputed flyweight championship at the Crypto.com Arena.
The 24-year-old champion from Myanmar earned the nod from the judges with scores of 49-46, 49-47, and 50-45, cementing his reign atop the competitive 125-pound division. More importantly for Van, the victory allowed him to decisively settle the score with the former champion following a controversial and anti-climactic end to their first meeting in December of the previous year.
Their initial encounter had ended abruptly when Pantoja suffered an accidental elbow dislocation just 26 seconds into the opening round. That freak injury resulted in Van being awarded the UFC flyweight championship without securing an outright victory over the Brazilian veteran, who had previously dominated the division as champion for at least two years. Although Van went on to successfully defend the belt against Tatsuro Taira in May, the lingering asterisk of the first Pantoja fight meant that the young champion was still eager to definitively seal his status as the best fighter in the division while Pantoja recovered from his extensive injury layoff.
"A lot of people said that was an accidental win — well, doubt me now," Van stated passionately inside the Octagon following his second successful title defense, a milestone that further embellished his professional mixed martial arts record to 18 wins and only two losses.
The championship bout did not take long to ignite. Pantoja wasted no time testing the champion, taking Van down in the first round before landing a series of heavy punches and knees during a fiery, close-range exchange. Van, refusing to back down, retaliated immediately with a slicing elbow that signaled his intent to trade blows with the seasoned Brazilian grappler. Recognizing the inherent dangers of engaging in a wild brawl with a veteran as experienced as Pantoja, Van’s corner offered crucial tactical advice during the interval.
"You’re too good to brawl with this guy," Van’s coaches instructed him, urging the champion to transition from a slugfest to a more technical and disciplined striking approach.
The strategic shift paid immediate dividends in the second and third rounds. Van began to dictate the range, peppering Pantoja with sharp left-handed jabs in the second frame before rocking the former champion with a fluid, damaging combination of punches in the third. Pantoja, demonstrating the resilience and championship pedigree that made him a long-reigning ruler of the division, managed to turn the tide temporarily in the fourth round. He successfully secured a takedown and controlled the action on the canvas, though Van’s active defense prevented the challenger from securing a submission.
Entering the final championship round with the momentum finely balanced, Van relentlessly stalked Pantoja across the canvas. Seizing an opening in the waning minutes, the champion dropped Pantoja to the canvas with a devastating overhand right, sealing the competitive round and cementing his victory on the judges’ scorecards once and for all.
The co-main event of UFC 331 featured another statement performance in the lightweight division, where Armenian contender Arman Tsarukyan staked a definitive claim for the next shot at the 155-pound title. Tsarukyan showcased his explosive power and tactical precision by pinning Mauricio Ruffy against the cage. He stunned his opponent with a sharp left elbow before bringing a sudden and dramatic end to the contest with a thunderous right elbow that knocked Ruffy unconscious with just four seconds remaining in the opening round.
"I knew my time would come, so I was patient," said Tsarukyan, whose spectacular finish extended his current win streak to six consecutive fights. Immediately following the victory, Tsarukyan used his post-fight interview to lobby for a championship opportunity against reigning titleholder Justin Gaethje.
In the featherweight division, former four-time, two-division Bellator champion Patricio Pitbull secured his first-ever UFC stoppage victory in style, dismantling South Korea’s Dooho Choi with a technical knockout (TKO) just three minutes and 28 seconds into the opening round. Pitbull, boasting a career record of 38 wins and nine losses, overwhelmed Choi with a relentless volume of sharp striking before landing a devastating right hand that prompted the referee to step in and halt the bout. The loss snapped a three-fight finishing streak for Choi, a promotional mainstay who has competed under the UFC banner since 2014.
Meanwhile, the heavyweight division provided one of the most stunning upsets of the calendar year. Heavyweight newcomer Sean Sharaf needed a mere 12 seconds to shock Gable Steveson with a first-round TKO. Steveson had entered the Octagon as a massive betting favorite, but Sharaf caught him immediately off the opening bell, unleashing a blistering, unchecked flurry of strikes that forced a lightning-fast referee stoppage.
The blistering 12-second finish etched its place in the record books as the third-fastest knockout in UFC heavyweight history. As Sharaf celebrated the landmark victory in front of an electric, cheering crowd in Los Angeles, a visibly frustrated Steveson refused to remain inside the Octagon to witness his opponent’s hand being officially raised.