UFC 331 happens Saturday night inside Crypto.com Arena. We take a look at the evening’s main card: <\/p>\n
UFC 331<\/a> fight week continues. Saturday night, the final UFC <\/a>event <\/a>of the summer schedule takes place on the West Coast. Crypto.com Arena, soon to begin its 27th season as the home court of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, serves as the venue of UFC 331.<\/p>\n Live coverage of UFC 331 <\/a>begins with the early prelims <\/a>at 5:30 pm ET\/ 2:30 pm PT on Paramount Plus<\/a> and UFC Fight Pass. Late prelims follow at 7 pm ET\/ 4 pm PT exclusively on Paramount Plus.\u00a0<\/p>\n Main card action closes out the activities at 9 pm ET\/ 6 pm PT. If there are no adjustments needed to be made for Saturday night’s itinerary, the final version of UFC 331 features a 12-fight card.<\/p>\n At the top of the bill, the UFC Flyweight Championship is at stake in the UFC 331 main event. Current champ Joshua Van<\/a> (17-2 MMA, 10-1 UFC) fights No. 1 contender Alexandre Pantoja <\/a>(30-6 MMA, 14-4 UFC.) This is a five-round affair at five minutes per round to close out the evening.<\/p>\n The last time Van and Pantoja met was Dec. 6 of last year, but the fight was halted inside the first round’s first 30 seconds after Pantoja could not continue due to suffering an arm injury off of a takedown. Champion Van enters this rematch with a record of 5-0 in his last five outings.<\/p>\n He’s currently on a seven-fight winning streak, including a successful initial defense of the championship in his most recent fight against Tatsuro Taira in UFC 328 the night before Mother’s Day. That May weekend, he punched his way to a fifth-round standing TKO of Tatsuro Taira (18-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC,) pocketing the $100,000 (USD) bonus for the Performance of the Night Award following the show.<\/p>\n With Van only having fought Pantoja for 26 seconds late last fall, he didn’t really get a sense of how his opponent operates. While getting the win is of primary concern to Van and his camp, to a man, they’re hopeful it’s a victory not caused by injury this time around.<\/p>\n Alexandre Pantoja Enters UFC 331 Main Event with Revenge on His Mind<\/p>\n Across the way, Alexandre Pantoja makes the walk with a 4-1 record in his last five appearances. “The Cannibal” held the UFC Flyweight Championship from July of 2023 to December of last year, making four successful defenses of the title at 125 lbs in that span.<\/p>\n Prior to fighting Joshua Van for the first time in December, he defeated Kai Kara-France (25-12, 1 NC MMA, 8-5 UFC) by way of third-round submission due to rear-naked choke in June of 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n This was his second straight victory via rear-naked choke. With Pantoja having been given a rematch against Van, his gameplan couldn’t be any simpler: Get back what he lost.<\/p>\n UFC 331 Co-Main Event: No. 2 Contender Arman Tsarukyan vs. No. 7 Contender Mauricio Ruffy: Tsarukyan Caps Off Busy Summer Hoping for No. 1 Contender Status<\/p>\n Immediately beforehand, the UFC 331 co-main event features a high-stakes battle<\/a> between No. 2 contender Arman Tsarukyan <\/a>(23-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) and No. 7 contender Mauricio Ruffy <\/a>(14-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC.) This lightweight attraction is a five-round fight at five minutes per round.<\/p>\n Tsarukyan enters UFC 331 on Saturday night sporting a 5-0 record in his last five MMA fights dating back to December of 2022. He hasn’t fought under MMA rules since November of last year. That night, he scored a second-round submission due to arm-triangle choke over Dan Hooker (24-15 MMA, 15-11 UFC) in Qatar.\u00a0<\/p>\n While he’s been out of MMA for close to a full year, he’s kept himself quite busy in recent months, most recently competing in Hype FC, winning by way of armbar against Ankit Baiyanpuria on Aug, 1. Saturday’s co-main event is a crucial 25 minutes or less of action for Tsarukyan. Given that he sits at No. 2 in the rankings, this is the biggest fight of his seven-year stint in the UFC.<\/p>\n Can Mauricio Ruffy Spoil the Party?<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Mauricio Ruffy comes into UFC 331 sporting a 4-1 record in his last five fights. On June 14, he trekked to The White House grounds for UFC Freedom 250 in Washington, DC.\u00a0<\/p>\n That Sunday night, he scored a first-round knockout against Michael Chandler (23-11 MMA, 2-6 UFC.) This result extended Chandler’s losing streak to four contests and knocked him from the rankings at 155.\u00a0<\/p>\n Given that Ruffy is seventh in the rankings, a victory here does wonders for his resume. Will Ruffy get his hand raised in victory?<\/p>\n UFC 331: No. 15 Contender Patricio Pitbull vs. Doo ho Choi: Pitbull Hoping to Impress Fans Saturday<\/p>\n Also on UFC 331’s main card, fans will be treated to a featherweight contest matching No. 15 contender Patricio Pitbull <\/a>(37-9 MMA, 1-2 UFC,) a 46-bout veteran and luminary from the late Bellator MMA, and Doo ho Choi<\/a> (17-4-1 MMA, 6-3-1 UFC.) This is a three-round fight at five minutes per round.<\/p>\n Pitbull, also known as Patricio Freire, enters the event with a mark of 2-3 in his last five fights and some question as to his status in the UFC beyond this weekend. On April 11 in Miami, he dropped a unanimous decision at the hands of fellow Bellator alumnus Aaron Pico (14-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC.)<\/p>\n With the defeat, Freire dropped to a .333 winning percentage in the promotion. During UFC 331 media day Wednesday, he mentioned that he hated his efforts in his recent bouts.<\/p>\n “I don’t think I showed my potential in at all in any of those fights, but I do want to bring that out in this performance,” Pitbull told the press.<\/p>\n Choi Looks to Run Unbeaten Streak to Five<\/p>\n In the other corner, Doo ho Choi comes into this weekend at a 3-1-1 clip in his last five fights. He’s unbeaten in his last four outings, including a second-round knockout of Daniel Santos (13-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) in May.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the moment, Choi is unranked at 145, so Saturday’s contest has some decent stakes attached to it. If he gets his hand raised in victory this weekend, he’ll be on the fast track to having a number next to his name by this time next week.<\/p>\n Who will emerge victorious? Tune in and find out.<\/p>\n Rest of the Card<\/p>\n Two other fights round out UFC 331 on Saturday, a heavyweight fight between Gable Steveson (4-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Sean Sharaf (4-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) in the former’s sophomore appearance and a light heavyweight contest matching Iwo Baraniewski (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) against Alonzo Menifield (18-6-1 MMA, 11-6-1 UFC.)\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nUFC 331 Main Event: UFC Flyweight Championship: Joshua Van vs. No. 1 Contender Alexandre Pantoja II: Van Makes Second Defense of Belt<\/p>\n