The main event at UFC 331 ended in uproar over the judges' scorecards. In a title fight in which the challenger had convincingly won at least one or two rounds, one of the officials still handed in a card of 50-45. Joshua Van, 24, beat 36-year-old Alexandre Pantoja by unanimous decision across five dramatic rounds to keep hold of the flyweight title, the UFC's lightest men's division. The Brazilian veteran dominated the opening round with his grappling. Yet Van gradually turned the contest his way with precise striking from range, and in the fifth he dropped his opponent with a heavy right hand.
A championship card that bore so little relation to the fight itself provoked a furious response. "Lock the arena and find this judge!" went the cry on social media, where supporters demanded that the official behind the 50-45 score lose their job, given that Pantoja had clearly taken the early stages of the bout. Attention now turns to the next title challenger at flyweight, Manel Kape, who beat Kyoji Horiguchi in the third round. Yet despite that success, Kape said he needs a short break and has stepped away for the time being. Ultimately, the night belonged to Van, who extended his winning run to eight straight and left the championship belt untouched.
