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UFC returns to downtown Los Angeles for the first time since 2018 on Saturday, Sept. 19, when Crypto.com UFC 331 lands at Crypto.com Arena behind a flyweight title rematch nobody feels settled. Joshua Van won the belt from Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 323 last December, but the fight ended just 26 seconds in when Pantoja broke his fall on a takedown attempt and tore up his arm \u2014 a finish that left the division wondering who the real best flyweight in the world actually is. That question gets answered this weekend, alongside a loaded co-main event, a pair of unbeaten prospects, and a heavyweight bout marking just the second UFC appearance of Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson. Every number below is current as of Wednesday, Sept. 16, and lines will keep moving into fight night, so check the current UFC odds<\/a> at your sportsbook of choice before locking anything in.<\/p>\n UFC 331 Main Event OddsFightFanDuelBetRiversLetsBetMDJoshua Van vs. Alexandre PantojaVan -136 \/ Pantoja +106Van -132 \/ Pantoja +107Van -130 \/ Pantoja +102<\/p>\n All three books agree Van is the favorite to retain, but the price is worth shopping: LetsBetMD<\/a> offers the best number on the champion at -130, BetRivers<\/a> is the middle price at -132, and FanDuel<\/a> is the priciest at -136. Bettors backing Pantoja to reclaim the belt get the better payout at FanDuel’s +106. BetRivers also posts a “to go the distance” market on the main event \u2014 No (the fight ends inside the distance) sits at -240, with Yes out to +175 \u2014 along with method-of-victory prices: Van by decision is +390, Van by KO\/TKO is +175, and Van by submission is a distant +1600, while Pantoja by decision is +460, Pantoja by KO\/TKO is +850, and Pantoja by submission is +290, the shortest number on the card for the challenger to switch the belt back his way. Open a LetsBetMD account<\/a> (Maryland only) for the best plain number on the champion, or bet at BetRivers<\/a> for the widest legal footprint at a nearly identical price.<\/p>\n Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja<\/p>\n Van, 24, is unbeaten in his last seven appearances inside the Octagon and enters this rematch off arguably the best win of his career \u2014 a fifth-round stoppage of grappling ace Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328 that answered every question about whether he could hold up against a true title challenger over 25 minutes. He climbed the ladder with five straight wins before that, including the first meeting with Pantoja, and carries a 17-2 overall record (10-1 in the UFC) into Saturday.<\/p>\n Pantoja, 36, was pound-for-pound ranked and a near 3-to-1 favorite heading into the first fight off four consecutive successful title defenses, including back-to-back submissions of Kai Asakura and Kai Kara-France that pushed his winning streak to eight before the injury. He now sits at 30-6 overall (14-4 in the UFC) and, if he wins Saturday, becomes only the third fighter in UFC history to reclaim the flyweight title after losing it. The Brazilian has made no secret of feeling he never actually lost the belt in a real fight, and that chip on his shoulder \u2014 combined with a legitimate case that he remains the best 125-pounder alive \u2014 has turned this into one of the most personal rematches on the 2026 calendar.<\/p>\n The number has flipped from the first meeting: Van is now the favorite by a healthy margin across all three books, reflecting both his dominant showing against Taira and Pantoja’s long layoff and advancing age. Value hunters who believe the veteran still has enough left to reclaim his title get the best plus-money price at FanDuel’s +106; anyone backing the champion to walk out with the belt again should shop LetsBetMD’s -130, the cheapest number on Van anywhere.<\/p>\n Prediction: Van by decision. Lean: Van -130 (LetsBetMD).<\/p>\n SHOP UFC 331 AT BETRIVERS<\/a>Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio Ruffy<\/p>\n The co-main event carries as much weight as any fight on the card not wearing a championship. Tsarukyan, 29 and unbeaten in five straight since a back injury derailed a scheduled UFC 311 title shot against Islam Makhachev last year, returns off a dominant win over Dan Hooker in Qatar and has stayed sharp with monthly grappling exhibitions in the interim. His 10-2 Octagon record puts him among the most talented lightweights never to have fought for gold \u2014 a gap the promotion has stopped short of guaranteeing this fight will close.<\/p>\n Ruffy, meanwhile, has been the most explosive striker in the division through 2026, stopping Rafael Fiziev in February and then battering Michael Chandler in June. His hand speed and unorthodox angles make him live against anyone at 155 pounds, but his takedown defense against a wrestler of Tsarukyan’s caliber remains the central question of the fight. FanDuel charges more for the favorite at -350; LetsBetMD is the better number on Tsarukyan at -333. Ruffy backers get the slightly better payout at FanDuel’s +255 against +250 at LetsBetMD.<\/p>\n Prediction: Tsarukyan by second-round submission. Lean: Tsarukyan -333 (LetsBetMD).<\/p>\n Patricio Pitbull vs. Dooho Choi<\/p>\n A pairing of featherweight veterans with a combined 22 years of professional experience, and one that projects as pure action from the opening bell. Pitbull, the 39-year-old former two-division Bellator champion, is just 1-2 since arriving in the UFC in 2025, including a clear decision loss to Aaron Pico last time out, but he remains dangerous with his guillotine and never stops pressing for a finish.<\/p>\n Choi, a South Korean fan favorite already responsible for a Hall of Fame classic against Cub Swanson back in 2016, arrives on a three-fight winning streak with every victory coming by TKO. The betting market has installed him as a clear favorite \u2014 FanDuel prices Choi at -265 with Pitbull out to +200, while LetsBetMD is even shorter on the favorite at -286, with the veteran’s underdog price stretching to +220 there.<\/p>\n Prediction: Choi by third-round TKO. Lean: Choi -265 (FanDuel).<\/p>\n Alonzo Menifield vs. Iwo Baraniewski<\/p>\n A classic gatekeeper fight opens the main card, with light heavyweight veteran Alonzo Menifield tasked with testing whether unbeaten prospect Iwo Baraniewski is ready for the division’s ranked contenders. Menifield has gone 3-1 over his last four, including a May win over Zhang Mingyang in Macau, and remains capable of ending any fight with one clean shot.<\/p>\n Baraniewski, though, has looked like the scariest finisher on the roster since graduating from Dana White’s Contender Series, running his record to 9-0 with three consecutive first-round stoppages in a combined 3 minutes, 22 seconds of total cage time. The 27-year-old Pole has yet to see the fourth minute of a professional fight, and the market reflects that trajectory \u2014 FanDuel has him at -265, LetsBetMD slightly shorter at -250, with Menifield the underdog at +200 (FanDuel) and +185 (LetsBetMD).<\/p>\n Prediction: Baraniewski by first-round TKO. Lean: Baraniewski -250 (LetsBetMD).<\/p>\n Gable Steveson vs. Sean Sharaf<\/p>\n The main card opens with the second UFC appearance of Gable Steveson, the 2020 Olympic wrestling gold medalist now training under the guidance of Jon Jones. Steveson’s debut win over Elisha Ellison in July came via first-round finish without leaning on his elite wrestling pedigree at all, a sign that the heavyweight prospect is still figuring out how to slow the fight down and use his full skill set.<\/p>\n Sean Sharaf, a Santa Ana native and Marine Corps veteran, gets the chance to spring an upset at home after consecutive second-round TKO losses to Junior Tafa and Steven Asplund. The gap in the odds is the widest of the entire card \u2014 Steveson is priced as short as -2000 at LetsBetMD and -1800 at FanDuel, with Sharaf’s longshot price reaching +875 and +800, respectively.<\/p>\n Prediction: Steveson by first-round TKO. Lean: Steveson -1800 (FanDuel).<\/p>\n BET UFC 331 AT FANDUEL<\/a>UFC 331 Preliminary Card OddsFightFanDuelLetsBetMDMarlon Vera vs. Charles JourdainVera +176 \/ Jourdain -230Vera +185 \/ Jourdain -238Tai Tuivasa vs. Robelis DespaigneTuivasa +500 \/ Despaigne -850Tuivasa +465 \/ Despaigne -769Michael Aswell Jr. vs. JooSang YooAswell +220 \/ Yoo -295Aswell +215 \/ Yoo -286Ryan Gandra vs. Ozzy DiazGandra -500 \/ Diaz +340Gandra -500 \/ Diaz +350Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Brunno FerreiraShahbazyan -170 \/ Ferreira +132Shahbazyan -167 \/ Ferreira +130Casey O’Neill vs. Eduarda MouraO’Neill -196 \/ Moura +152O’Neill -200 \/ Moura +160Giga Chikadze vs. Joanderson BritoChikadze +285 \/ Brito -400Chikadze +295 \/ Brito -400<\/p>\n Tuivasa is down to his last chance after a lengthy skid and moved his camp to American Top Team in Florida for this fight, but the number still says Despaigne, fresh off a Karate Combat heavyweight title reign, gets it done. Shahbazyan, fighting at home in Los Angeles after earning Fight of the Night honors in a loss to Brendan Allen, is a live favorite worth a look for parlay builders. Gandra is the shortest price on the entire prelim card, riding a nine-fight winning streak with his last two wins both coming in well under two minutes combined.<\/p>\n UFC 331 Best Bets<\/p>\n Van -130 (LetsBetMD<\/a>) \u2014 Seven straight wins and a statement performance over a world-class grappler in Taira. The champion should be sharper the second time around against a 36-year-old coming off a long layoff.<\/p>\n Choi -265 (FanDuel<\/a>) \u2014 Three straight TKO wins against a 39-year-old former champion who has been hittable in every one of his UFC appearances.<\/p>\n Baraniewski -250 (LetsBetMD<\/a>) \u2014 Nine pro fights, nine finishes, none past the first round. Menifield has power, but he has to survive three minutes he’s rarely had to survive against this level of pressure.<\/p>\n Steveson -1800 (FanDuel<\/a>) \u2014 An Olympic gold medalist against a fighter working through consecutive stoppage losses. The gap in the odds reflects the gap in the cage.<\/p>\n Where to Bet UFC 331<\/p>\n FanDuel, BetRivers and LetsBetMD each post a different number on the main event, and the spread runs six cents wide on Van alone. Sign up with FanDuel<\/a>, bet at BetRivers<\/a> or open a LetsBetMD account<\/a> to shop every side of the card, and check the latest sportsbook promos<\/a> before making a first deposit. California itself has no legal online market, so fans there often bet across the border \u2014 our Arizona sports betting<\/a> guide is the closest legal option, BetRivers bettors can review our Illinois sports betting<\/a> guide, and anyone planning to bet live through the walkouts should grab one of the best betting apps<\/a> beforehand. The full card streams live on Paramount+ starting with prelims Saturday afternoon and running through the main card that night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UFC returns to downtown Los Angeles for the first time since 2018 on Saturday, Sept. 19, when Crypto.com…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":897957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,638,82],"class_list":["post-897956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=897956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/897957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}