play Live Sign upShow navigation menuplay Live Click here to searchsearchSign upEXPLAINERSport|Mixed Martial ArtsUFC 331: Van-Pantoja rematch, Tsarukyan returns and full fight cardVan and Pantoja to fight for flyweight title, while Tsarukyan faces the dangerous Mauricio Ruffy at lightweight.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoJoshua Van, left, fights Alexandre Pantoja during the December 2025 UFC 323 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the United States [Stephen R Sylvanie/Imagn Images via Reuters]By Al Jazeera StaffPublished On 6 Aug 20266 Aug 2026Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja will headline UFC 331 in September in a flyweight title rematch on September 19 in Los Angeles, officials announced on Thursday.
Van won the title in their first bout with a first-round TKO in December that was blighted by an early injury to the defending champion Pantoja.
Meanwhile, lightweights Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy will fight in the co-main event.
Here’s everything you need to know about this card.
The co-main event fight at UFC 323 in Las Vegas lasted just 26 seconds as then-champion Pantoja (30-6) dislocated his elbow when he fell to the mat after Van (17-2) caught a kick and was unable to continue.
Van, aged just 24, became one of the youngest champions in the promotion’s history and ended Pantoja’s eight-fight win streak – including four defences of his title.
While Pantoja has been in rehabilitation since the loss, Van defended his title at UFC 328 when he knocked out Tatsuro Taira in the fifth round. Van is now on a seven-fight win streak.
Pantoja’s freak injury and the nature of the loss meant a rematch with Van was inevitable.
While Tsarukyan (23-3) has been wrestling in the Real American Freestyle promotion recently, he last fought in the Octagon in November 2022 at Qatar UFC, when he beat Dan Hooker in the second round with an arm-triangle choke submission.
Tsarukyan is eager to work his way back to a title shot against Russia’s Islam Makhachev after the Armenian was forced to pull out of their fight in January 2025 with an injury.
But he faces a dangerous rising star in Ruffy (14-2), who most recently knocked out Michael Chandler in the first round of their bout at the UFC Freedom 250 event in June.
UFC 331 is set to take place on Saturday, September 19, 2026, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Early prelims begin about 5pm ET (21:00 GMT), prelims at 7pm ET (23:00 GMT), and the main card starts at 9pm ET (01:00 GMT on Sunday).
UFC 331 is broadcast live on Paramount+ in the US, TNT Sports in the United Kingdom, Foxtel/Kayo in Australia, Sportsnet+ in Canada, and on UFC Fight Pass worldwide.
Pantoja opens as a slight -120 favourite to win the fight according to DraftKings, with Van listed as a +100 underdog.
