UFC Announces Full 13-Fight Card For UFC 331

A title fight and a possible title eliminator headline the UFC 331 fight card. The UFC recently announced the full 13-fight bout list for the fight promotion’s return to Crypto.com Arena on Saturday, September 19.

In the UFC 331 main event, current flyweight champion Joshua Van puts his title on the line against the man he defeated for that crown, Alexandre Pantoja. Meanwhile, in the co-main event, Arman Tsarukyan meets Mauricio Ruffy in what could be a lightweight title eliminator, with the victor moving on to face champion Justin Gaethje.

Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja
Arman Tsarukyan vs. Maurício Ruffy
Patrício Pitbull vs. Choi Doo-ho
Renato Moicano vs. Brian Ortega
Alonzo Menifield vs. Iwo Baraniewski

Gable Steveson vs. Sean Sharaf
Marlon Vera vs. Charles Jourdain
Tai Tuivasa vs. Robelis Despaigne
Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Brunno Ferreira

Giga Chikadze vs. Joanderson Brito
Casey O’Neill vs. Eduarda Moura
Ryan Gandra vs. Osman Diaz
Michael Aswell Jr. vs. Yoo Joo-sang

*Fight card subject to change

Van (17-2) and Pantoja (30-6) faced off at UFC 323 in December. The bout lasted just 26 seconds, as an injury to Pantoja’s left arm as he fell to the mat left him unable to continue. The TKO loss ended Pantoja’s title run after four successful defenses. He initially won the UFC’s 125-pound crown in July 2023 with a split-decision win over Brandon Moreno. Pantoja’s title defense wins came against Brandon Royval (decision), Kai Asakura (submission), and Kai Kara-France (submission).

Van is coming off a May title defense win over Tatsuro Taira. That fight ended via TKO in the fifth round.

The co-main event of UFC 331 is scheduled for five rounds, which should give fight fans some indication that the promotion is treating the matchup between Tsarukyan (23-3) and Ruffy (14-2) as something special.

Tsarukyan was scheduled to face Islam Makhachev in a title fight at UFC 311 at Crypto.com Arena, but was forced from that event on weigh-in day. Tsarukyan has fought once since then, beating Dan Hooker via submission in November.

Ruffy is coming off a June TKO victory over Michael Chandler at the White House in June.

We will have more on UFC 331 as fight night approaches.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com