Their first meeting, back in December 2025, lasted all of twenty-six seconds and ended with Alexandre Pantoja stricken by an elbow injury. None of that has stopped Joshua Van, the reigning champion at flyweight, the UFC's lightest men's division, from putting the belt on the line against the same man a second time. That freak finish did something else too: it turned the respect the two fighters once held for one another into outright hostility. Van has since hardened his reign by beating Tatsuro Taira, and he now wants the question of who is the better fighter answered beyond dispute. Ahead of UFC 331 he needled the former champion, claiming he is Pantoja's "father" and promising to knock him out. Pantoja, for his part, is fixed on one thing only — getting his title back.
Elsewhere on the card, Arman Tsarukyan meets underdog Mauricio Ruffy in the lightweight co-main event. The heavyweight pairing, meanwhile, has already boiled over at the press conference. Sean Sharaf branded Gable Steveson a "bully" to his face, and the response came without a pause. "Coward," Steveson fired back. In the featherweight division, Patricio Pitbull and Doo Ho Choi share the Octagon. One late change is worth noting: Brian Ortega's injury saw the bout booked with Renato Moicano pulled from the card altogether. Ultimately, the UFC 331 main card has been assembled around four decisive fights.
