UFC 331 preview, main card predictions | Van vs. Pantoja 2

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is returning to “The City of Angels” for the UFC 331: “Van vs. Pantoja 2” mixed martial arts (MMA) event, which as the name suggests, is headlined by the flyweight championship rematch pitting reigning champion Joshua Van against former 125-pound titleholder Alexandre Pantoja. The action takes place this Sat. night (Sept. 19, 2026) on Paramount+ from inside Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif., and also features a lightweight collision between perennial contender Arman Tsarukyan and “Fighting Nerds” defector Mauricio Ruffy

Let’s breakdown those two bangers along with the rest of the UFC 331 main card below:

Fair-weather fans are nothing new in sports and I know the MMA community loves shiny new toys, and yet I’m still somewhat surprised at the haste in which Alexandre Pantoja was written off. Prior to his injury in his first fight with Van, the Brazilian rattled off eight straight wins over some of the toughest fighters in the division including Manel Kape, Kai Asakura, and a prime Brandon Moreno, among others. He’s both 36 and has 36 pro fights to his credit and undoubtedly motivated to show the world that his Van loss was a fluke (because it was). Pantoja averages close to five significant strikes per minute and rattles off nearly three takedowns per 15 minutes of action, stats that are atypical for a 125-pound combatant. He also holds the flyweight record for wins (14), finishes (8), and submissions (6).

“I’m the challenger here. I have this position all my life, and I like it; it makes this moment much better,” Pantoja told UFC.com. “When I was very young, my dream was to fight with the best fighters in the world. UFC gave me this opportunity, and Saturday night, I have this opportunity again to fight with the best fighter in the world. It’s Joshua Van right now and I want to show everybody I’m the best. I’m glad to have this opportunity. To have the flyweights have this recognition is amazing for me. That it’s the main event, I have this opportunity — so many good things we have in the flyweight division, so many good names. I fought everybody in the Top 10 and now when I see the rankings again, it’s all new, and I want to stay here to fight everybody again.”

Van holds a few records of his own, which is impressive for his age and experience level, including significant strike accuracy (57.4%), strikes landed per minute (8.43), and striking differential (2.61). I spoke highly of Pantoja and I’ll do the same here, because the injury finish at UFC 323 does not diminish Van’s incredible war against Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328, nor does it erase his brilliant performance against gritty veteran Brandon Royval at UFC 317. I’ve always maintained that a fighter looking for flyweight legitimacy has to beat either Pantoja, Kape, or Moreno and since the dislocated arm against “The Cannibal” erases their first fight, I’m still not convinced “Fearless” is that guy. I might have a change in opinion after this weekend, depending on how things pan out, but until then, I’m picking Pantoja by way of championship experience.

Arman Tsarukyan is one of the best wrestlers in the division and often makes it look easy, scoring 10 takedowns against Matt Frevola and another seven opposite Damir Ismagulov. There are only two fights with Tsarukyan that he did not land a single takedown — Beneil Dariush and Christos Giagos — but that’s because “Ahalkalakets” ended both contests by way of first-round knockout. His only two losses under the UFC banner? Tsarukyan was outwrestled both times, first by Islam Makhachev and then again by Mateusz Gamrot.

As you can see, Arman’s fate is determined by how well he controls the wrestling and he’ll undoubtedly want to use it against an opponent with 13 knockouts in 14 wins. I guess now is a good time to mention that Ruffy only has one loss in UFC and it was also the only UFC fight that he was taken down and controlled by wrestling. The end result? A submission loss to French phenom Benoit Saint Denis. There’s really no point in standing with the Brazilian because Arman has nothing to prove. His only goal at this stage of the game is to keep winning until Dana White finally relents and grants “Ahalkalakets” another shot at the 155-pound title.

“You cannot compare [Israel] Adesanya with me, and you cannot compare [Alex] Volkanovski with me,” Tsarukyan said about Ruffy’s training partners during the UFC 331 media day (watch it here). “They’re completely different fighters. Yeah, he has power, and he has good striking, but I’m better everywhere. So with my wrestling and my striking that I can mix, I can always strike [with] him. He has a really awkward style. I’ve never faced anybody like his striking. So it’s gonna be a little bit dangerous first round, but second round should be good.”

Don’t let the RAF hijinks or the Nina Drama videos fool you, Arman is an intelligent fighter who values winning above all else. This is going to be five-rounds of WrestleMania — or at least until Arman can find the tap.

Patricio Freire has been a disappointment thus far in his UFC career and that probably doesn’t come as a surprise since the promotion scooped him up when he was already past his prime. Now pushing 40, things are going to continue to trend downward, depending on how matchmakers book him moving forward. That’s what happens when you rack up nearly 50 professional fights, many of them grueling, five-round wars. Offensively, Freire can do it all and has 24 finishes split evenly between knockouts (12) and submissions (12) — but only has one finish over the last five years, a span of 10 fights. The competition got stiffer, Freire got older, and now he’s fighting to keep his place on the featherweight roster. That said, I don’t think he would mind reuniting with Scott Coker at Ki MMA if things don’t work out for him in UFC (meaning, he loses this fight).

“I haven’t liked any of [my UFC fights],” Pitbull told reporters at the UFC 331 media day (watch it here). “I don’t think I’ve shown my potential at all in any of those fights, but I do want to bring that out in this performance. I liked [that Choi called me out for this card]. It’s always good when the fighters are remembering your name and have your name in mind. I think his opponent was going to say the same thing. I was missing it. In that division, everyone is quiet. I like challengers.”

Doo Ho Choi came onto the scene roughly 12 years back for a UFC “Fight Night” card headlined by Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson, jumped out to a 3-0 start with three first-round knockouts, then dropped three in a row in the ugliest of fashions before disappearing for over three years. Part of that absence was to work through his issues surrounding South Korea’s mandatory military service (he was later issued an exemption) but he also had to rehab a broken forearm that was severe enough to warrant a metal plate in his arm. “The Korean Superboy” is now 35 and no longer the young prospect with a ton of potential; though to his credit, he was able to shake off a draw in his Octagon return in 2023 to win three straight fights — all by way of knockout. He’s not that much younger than Freire but has far less mileage and unlike the Brazilian, has continued to find the win column. Granted, Choi’s competition has been mediocre, at best, but his -275 betting line is right on the money.

Forget Jan Błachowicz, the undefeated Iwo Baraniewski is the new “Polish Power.” The 27-year-old Pole graduated Dana White’s “Contender Series” roughly one year back and in three subsequent trips to the cage, “Rudy” has scored three first-round knockouts (and three post-fight performance bonuses). In fact, all nine of his victories have come within the first frame and he’s exactly the kind of fighter we need to help inject new life into the aging 205-pound division. I don’t want to get too carried away here because Baraniewski has yet to fight anyone in the Top 15 and we don’t know what his cardio or takedown defense look like because neither has been tested. Is Alonzo Menifield the guy to do it?

Probably not.

The Texan turns 39 in just a few weeks and if you look at his record, he’s been knocked silly by light heavyweight strikers like Carlos Ulberg, Azamat Murzakanov, and Volkan Oezdemir. “Atomic” was also a “Contender Series” winner back in 2018 and has since put together a respectable UFC record of 11-6-1, though a majority of those victories have come against bottom of the barrel competition like Askar Mozharov and Fabio Cherant, among others. I won’t discount his knockout power but technically, his striking is nothing to write home about. He’s also not that great in the wrestling department and relied on speed and agility for most of his career — two things that don’t get better with age. This feels like a fight that was designed to showcase the skills of Baraniewski and it would appear the bookies agree, pegging “Rudy” as the -245 betting favorite.

“I know that he’s a very dangerous striker,” Baraniewski told reporters at the UFC 331 media day (watch it here). “I know that he’s an experienced fighter — but I’m ready for it. This is for me a good chance to climb to the Top 15. I think two options: Maybe he will rush on me, but I’m ready for it. But I think maybe he will be waiting for a counter. We will see on Saturday. I’m ready for these two options. I have plans for these two options, so we will see. Maybe it will go like in my debut.”

It will.

Out with the old and in with the new.

def. Menifield by knockout

In pro wrestling, they call this a squash match. The promoter wants to push a hot young prospect and make him look super strong by squashing an enhancement talent. Gable Steveson is the up-and-coming star and Sean Sharaf is the jobber. I understand how the business works. Steveson has to be protected until it’s time for him to headline a card or fight for the title, so he won’t be facing anyone dangerous and matchmakers certainly aren’t going to risk putting him against another top prospect like Anthony Wint.

That’s a fairly long-winded way of accepting the fact that we are likely stuck with these types of layups for the foreseeable future. Complicating matters is the state of the heavyweight division, currently in turmoil now that Tom Aspinall vacated his title. As far as this fight goes, you have an Olympic gold medalist and NCAA Division-1 National Champion with knockout power taking on an older, slower tomato can who is 0-2 in UFC, getting knocked out by unranked heavyweights Junior Tafa and Steven Asplund. What can Sharaf possibly do to stop Steveson?

“I feel like if guys are going to bring up certain things, it’s a coward coming up out of him,” Steveson told reporters at the UFC 331 media day (watch it here). “It’s a guy that’s showing up for his own will and to say, ‘Hey, I’m a sacrificial lamb.’ And that’s what he’s going to be Saturday, and we will show the world once again that Gable Steveson is going to keep upgrading himself and keep being the best he can possible be. I treat every opponent the same whether they’re the best or the worst. Go out there and pick them apart and dominate them. I’m here to win. I’m not here to joke around. I’m not here to sh*t talk. I’m not here to be a rude person to anybody. I’m here to win and go home and that’s my whole objective.”

Maybe Steveson takes a page from the playbook of his mentor, Jon Jones, and does something dumb en route to a DQ loss. Outside of that, expect Sharaf to remind you why bookies pegged him as the +1000 underdog.

For much more on this weekend’s UFC 331 event click UFC 331 preview, main card predictions.