Joshua Van beats Alexandre Pantoja, defends his

Alexandre Pantoja didn’t faucet Joshua Van’s glove before the combat started. Nine months after an injury ended his reign as flyweight champion in just 26 seconds, the Brazilian returned to the Octagon to attempt to reclaim the belt that slipped away.

This time, no injury clouded the outcome. Pantoja got here out decided to impose his fashion from the opening seconds, but Van discovered a approach to keep him at a distance, counter with his boxing and survive the previous champion’s take-down makes an attempt.

After 5 rounds, the judges awarded the combat to the Van by unanimous determination, with scores of 49-46, 49-47 and 50-45.

Van retained the 125-pound title in the main event of UFC 331, held Saturday at Crypto.com Arena in entrance of a sold-out crowd of 19,357 followers. UFC CEO Dana White said the event generated $8.3 million in box workplace income, the very best in the world’s historical past.

The outcome also vindicated Van’s declare to the championship.

In December 2025, Pantoja threw a high kick that Van caught. The Brazilian misplaced his steadiness and braced his left arm on the canvas to break his fall, but his elbow dislocated. The combat ended after 26 seconds and Van was awarded the belt.

Both fighters had a lot to gain during their return to the Octagon.

The animosity that had constructed up was evident from the start. As the combat started, Pantoja went straight for Van. The Brazilian scored an early takedown and sought to keep the champion on the mat, trying to flip the combat into a grappling and ground-and-pound battle.

Van resisted and managed to get back to his toes. The lack of motion during some early stretches prompted the first boos from the gang.

But the tempo modified.

Van started to discover openings with his fingers and Pantoja had to soak up strikes while persevering with to search takedowns. The champion also confirmed better protection against the Brazilian’s advances as the rounds progressed.

In the second spherical, the combat had to be briefly stopped after Pantoja claimed a headbutt. The strike was reviewed and decided to have been unintentional, so the combat continued.

“I don’t even know why he was getting worked up. He came at me throwing punches, and I was just trying to counter, and he simply hit me in the head,” Van said. “I guess … I have a tougher head. So then he started complaining and all that. He was saying, ‘You headbutted me, you’re cheating.’ And I told him, ‘You hit me!’ So… um … that was it.”

Van started to take better control of the combat during the second and third rounds. His boxing allowed him to keep Pantoja at a distance and reply when the Brazilian tried to close in to take him down. Pantoja saved urgent, but he may no longer control the combat on the ground for prolonged intervals.

The fourth spherical allowed the previous champion to regain some of the control he’d misplaced. Pantoja managed to take Van down to the canvas again and labored from the top for a lot of the spherical, displaying that he may still hassle the champion when he managed to impose his fashion.

Van, however, ended the combat on a high observe.

“I knew I hurt him — you know, I knew I hurt him,” Van said. “He’s a mental giant, you know. He just didn’t want to go down. He doesn’t want to show that he’s hurt, but I know deep down he was hurt. But like I said, man, that’s why I respect him so much.”

In the fifth spherical, the champion landed a highly effective right-hand punch that knocked Pantoja down. The Brazilian managed to recuperate and continue until the end, but the blow in the end tipped the combat in Van’s favor.

Alexandre Pantoja tries to pin Joshua Van on the ground during their UFC 331 flyweight championship bout at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

(Luke Hales / Getty Images)

Ahead of the bout, Van defended his title in May against Tatsuro Taira, profitable by technical knockout in the fifth spherical. Pantoja, on the other hand, hadn’t competed since his elbow injury against Van.

“There’s nothing to prove, man,” Van said. “Like I said, I knew I was going to win the first fight, too. So it’s like: ‘OK, do you guys want to see me win again?’”

Before the combat, tensions between the 2 had escalated. Van had insisted that his first victory wasn’t solely due to Pantoja’s injury, while the Brazilian argued that the December outcome didn’t show who was actually the better fighter.

The reply, this time, got here after 25 minutes.

Tsarukyan knocks out Ruffy

Arman Tsarukyan celebrates after incomes a knockout win over Mauricio Ruffy during his UFC 331 light-weight bout at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

(Luke Hales / Getty Images)

The co-main event of the night time also ended sooner than anticipated.

Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy arrived at Crypto.com Arena with a five-round bout scheduled and key positions in the light-weight division on the road. Ruffy accepted the combat with just 4 weeks of preparation after Charles Oliveira was pulled from the cardboard.

Ruffy got here out prepared to commerce blows and confirmed pace in the opening minutes. Tsarukyan, as he had executed for a lot of his profession, sought to use his wrestling abilities to change the tempo of the combat.

Tsarukyan managed to drive Ruffy against the cage and started touchdown elbows. At the 4:56 mark of the first spherical, Tsarukyan landed two elbows that knocked Ruffy out and compelled the referee to stop the combat.

“I came to Los Angeles to enjoy the city,” Tsarukyan said. “But I also came to win. I owe those elbows to one of my coaches who taught me how to use them.”