UFC 331 is live this weekend (Sat., Sept. 19, 2026) from inside crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Ca., streaming exclusively on Paramount+ (watch here). The main event is a rematch for the UFC Flyweight title with Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja 2. We say rematch, but it’s hard to call their first fight a contest with Pantoja going down from injury inside of 30 seconds. The co-main is Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio Ruffy in a five-round Lightweight bout. This is Tsarukyan’s first bout since beating Dan Hooker almost a year ago. He’s done lots of wrestling since then, though. Rounding out the main card is Patricio Pitbull vs. Doo Hoo Choi, Gable Steveson vs. Sean Sharaf and Alonzo Menifield vs. Iwo Baraniewski. The Gable Steveson fight gets elevated to the main card after Brian Ortega fell out of his bout with Renato Moicano. The featured ‘Prelim’ is Marlon Vera vs. Charles Jourdain. The ‘Prelims’ also have Tai Tuivasa vs. Robelis Despaigne and Ryan Gandra vs. Ozzy Diaz. As always, there’s lots to bet on this card and we’ve got odds for all the fights below: UFC 331 Main Card Money Line Odds Joshua Van (-130) vs. Alexandre Pantoja (+100) Van and Pantoja’s first fight went down in December, 2025 — if you can call it that. The bout ended after 26 seconds when Pantoja snapped his arm while posting to brace for a fall. Since then Van has fought once, defending the title in an incredible fight against Tatsuro Taira. He won that by fifth round TKO (see it here) and came away with few people doubting his status as a UFC champion. Pantoja has been waiting in the wings since that first fight. Before unceremoniously losing his title, he had defended the belt four times, beating Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, Kai Asakura and Kai Kara-France. He looked especially untouchable in the wins over Asakura and Kara-France. I picked Pantoja in the first fight. But, like so many, I can’t deny how Van has blossomed since getting that title around his waist. He looked like the total package in the Taira fight and like he had both the takedown and submission defense to take on anybody. If Taira wasn’t able to dominate or finish Van on the ground, then I struggle to see Pantoja doing it. Pantoja does have better striking than Taira, though. So he’s more of a threat on the feet than Taira ever was to Van. Pantoja’s striking might be better than Taira’s, but it’s not better than Van’s. Van’s 8.43 sig. strikes per minute is second highest in the promotion (behind Carli Judice, but look at the difference in opponents). He’s accurate with his volume striking, too. His accuracy is a very good 57 percent and his defense is an impressive 58 percent. Usually, when you have someone landing so many strikes they are also giving up a ton of opportunities to their opponents. Van outstruck Taira 131 to 55. That’s the fifth time he’s landed triple-digit sig. strikes and kept his opponent under 100. The only people to land over 100 on him are Zhalgas Zhumagulov and Brandon Royval. Don’t let the funny haircut fool you, Zhumagulov is a good Flyweight who has now done his best work outside UFC. And Royval is a dawg. At 36, I don’t think Pantoja is going to join that club. I think this is going to be another one of those fights where Van breaks 100 and keeps his opponent under triple digits. That potential striking differential, along with Van’s takedown defense has me feeling pretty confident that we’re going to hear “And still” on Saturday night. Best bet: Joshua Van moneyline (-130) Arman Tsarukyan (-310) vs. Mauricio Ruffy (+250) Between RAF matches and live streaming, Tsarukyan has found time to get in a UFC fight. His last fight was his drubbing of Dan Hooker in November, 2025. Since then he’s had twelve grappling/wrestling matches. In UFC action he’s 10-2 with the only losses being his hard fought defeat to Islam Makhachev in his promotional debut and a decision to Mateusz Gamrot that many onlookers scored in his favour. Tsarukyan’s biggest UFC wins are over Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush. Ruffy destroyed Michael Chandler on the White House lawn in June (see it here). Before that he stopped Rafael Fiziev (see it here). That win looks very good considering how Fiziev has performed since. Those big wins came after Ruffy suffered his first UFC loss. That was when Benoit Saint Denis out-wrestled and out-grappled him for a second round submission win (see it here). I don’t think Tsarukyan is the heir apparent at Lightweight. I think his close loss to Makhachev and his heightened profile thanks to Nina Drama is making for some unwarranted hype. His most recent performance was very impressive. But that was against Dan Hooker and we’ve seen Hooker get dominated a lot since then. All that being said, I still think he probably gets by Ruffy. And that’s purely because of what we saw BSD do to Ruffy. In that fight Ruffy looked like someone who had walked into a wrestling gym for the first time in his life. To be fair, a lot of that is due to how excellent Saint Denis is on the ground. However, Tsarkuyan may be better than Saint Denis there. I don’t think Tsarukyan has the same submission threat as BSD, but as far as wrestling goes and being able to keep someone down and pound on them — Tsarukyan might have the edge. And that spells a lot of trouble for Ruffy. I would love to see Ruffy put Tsarukyan down with one of his explosive attacks. But, a lot of what Ruffy does best (kicks) leave him open for what Tsarukyan does best (takedowns). This means Ruffy is going to get a very small window to unleash those power shots. That’s asking a lot of him and a lot of me when considering who I think has the best chance to win. This fight is a five rounder. Ruffy has only been out of the second round twice in his career. Once was a third round finish before UFC and the other was his decision over James Llontop. Tsarukyan has never gone five rounds either, but with his wrestling background, it feels like a safer bet to imagine he can go that deep without issue. With all the smothering pressure I am imagining coming from Tsarukyan, along with my questions over Ruffy’s gas tank, I’ll take the under here. I can see a tired Ruffy giving up a submission in the third or fourth round. Best bet: Under 3.5 rounds (-180) Patricio Pitbull (+215) vs. Doo Hoo Choi (-265) Pitbull’s four fight deal with UFC expires after this one. I think it’s fair to say his UFC experiment hasn’t really worked out. In his debut he was out worked and somewhat dunked on by Yair Rodriguez. He then earned a win over Dan Ige (not that impressive in retrospect) and then lost to fellow Bellator transplant Aaron Pico. Choi finished Daniel Santos in May. That followed his hellbow finish over Nate Landwehr in December (see it here). He’s 3-0-1 since his hiatus from MMA (due to mandatory military service in South Korea). Choi has looked really great recently. And it’s not due to the chaotic fast-paced striking that made The Korean Superboy so famous. His wrestling has looked very good, too. He has a lot of size over Pitbull in this bout and I think he’s going to ragdoll the former Bellator champ. Pitbull, at 38, doesn’t have the pop left in his bat to take out Choi, so I’m not sure what his path to winning this is. I’ll take Choi minus the points, expecting him to either stop Pitbull are have a very lopsided decision win. Best bet: Doo Hoo Choi -5.5 (-120) Iwo Baraniewski (-218) vs. Alonzo Menifield (+180) Baraniewski is 3-0 in UFC and every second of his bouts have been much-see TV. That’s with those three fights only totalling barely over 200 seconds. Last time out he stopped Junior Tafa (see it here). Before that he blew away Austen Lane (see it here). And that all came after his bonkers 90 second war with Ibo Aslan (see it here). Menifield is one of the longest tenured guys in the Light Heavyweight division at this point. He’s 11-6-1 in the promotion. He’s earned a reputation for being a spoiler lately. In May he scored a big upset win over Zhang Mingyang (see it here). Last year he beat Oumar Sy as a +500 underdog. I am very sold on Baraniewski and I think this is some good match-making for him. Menifield is a step up, but it’s not a huge step. I do worry about Baraniewski giving up some inches of reach, but I think his speed will help him get through range without getting dropped. Once he’s close enough to hit Menifield, I think he’s going to do that, a lot. Menifield has been a great underdog lately, but I just don’t think he has the chin (67 percent of losses are KO/TKO) to deal with the machine gun offense of Baraniewski. Best bet: Iwo Baraniewski moneyline (-218) Gable Steveson (-1650) vs. Sean Sharaf (+950) Super prospect Steveson got to 4-0 after beating the ‘Snack Panther’ Elisha Ellison in his promotional debut in July. He won that by first round TKO (see it here). Sharaf came into UFC with a 4-0 record and took on Junior Tafa on short notice. He lost that bout by second round TKO. He then lost, also by second round TKO, against Steven Asplund. He didn’t go down quietly in those bouts, though. The only thing worth doing in a Gable Steveson fight, at this point, is taking a flyer on the underdog. These odds are ridiculous and we still don’t know whether Steveson is worth all the hype. Sharaf doesn’t seem particularly good, but at +950 in a contest with really only two plausible outcomes, I’ll take a chance with a very small stake. Best bet: Sean Sharaf moneyline (+950) UFC 331 ‘Prelims’ Under Card Odds Marlon Vera (+195) vs. Charles Jourdain (-238) Vera has lost four frustrating decisions in a row. Last time out he took the first two rounds off against David Martinez. Before that he was unlucky to lose a split decision to Aiemann Zahabi. The other losses were to Deiveson Figueiredo and Sean O’Malley (for the title). Jourdain came down to Bantamweight after a crushing loss to Jean Silva in 2024 . He’s won three fights since then. Two of those were thanks to his signature guillotine (over Victor Henry and Davey Grant) The other win, most recently, was a Fight of the Night decision over Kyler Phillips. Is this the fight where Vera comes in ready to perform from the opening bell? If he does that, then I think this is a pretty good match-up for him. These two are pretty similar strikers and Vera’s submission defense is, I think, good enough to avoid the Jourdain-o-tine. Thing is, I don’t have any hang-ups abut Jourdain when it comes to his mentality. He’s going to be ready to fight right away and, if things go like they usually do, he probably gets out to a lead against Vera on the scorecards. Vera has only won the first round twice in fifteen UFC fights that went to a decision. That was when he beat Pedro Munhoz in 2023 and someone called Guangyou Ning in 2016. This all makes it very hard to pick him. I’m going to do that, though, using the point spread. I can get Vera +3.5 for -155. I don’t think Jourdain is stopping him (no one else ever has) and when this goes to the scorecards, I don’t think Jourdan will manage better than 29-28. Vera may drop the first round, but he rarely coughs up a 30-27. Best bet: Marlon Vera +3.5 (-155) Tai Tuivasa (+455) vs. Robelis Despaigne (-625) Poor Tuivasa. The popular Australian is on a Tony Ferguson-like seven fight losing streak. His last two losses have been, perhaps, the two worst fights of 2026. Those were against Tallison Teixeira and Louie Sutherland. His last win was a TKO over Derrick Lewis in 2022. Despaigne had an embarrassing run in UFC back in 2024. After an 18 second KO over Josh Parisian on Contender Series he was schooled by Waldo-Cortes Acosta and then pinned for 15 minutes by Austen Lane. That earned him a ticket to Karate Combat. He killed dudes in the KC pit, including Sam Alvey (see it here). He returned to MMA action with MVP on the Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano event. He smashed Junior dos Santos on that card (see that here). That was enough for the UFC to re-sign him, basically to play keep-away from MVP/PFL. I think this fight should be avoided at all costs. Tuivasa can’t be trusted to win anything right now and Despaigne might be all smoke and mirrors. The popular opinion is that Despaigne is going to tear Tuivasa apart in under a minute. And that might happen. But there’s plenty of evidence that Despaigne’s extremely one-dimensional skill-set might not be good enough to beat run-of-the-mill UFC Heavyweight talent. You can get very high odds on the over here, so I’ll take that for the sake of value (and the belief that it’s possible that this fight looks like Tuivasa’s last two). Best bet: Over 1.5 rounds (+210) Michael Aswell Jr. (+225) vs. Joo Sang Yoo (-278) Aswell has lost three of his four UFC bouts. The win was a quick finish over Lucas Almeida, who somehow managed to fight despite showing up with a badly broken hand. His other bouts are all decision losses; to Gaston Bolanos, Luke Riley and Bolaji Oki. Yoo flatlined Jeka Saragih to announce himself to UFC in 2025 (see it here). In his second bout he was he was finished by Daniel Santos (see it here). I’m really not sold on either of these and I doubt they’re on the roster this time next year. I like Aswell’s toughness and durability. He’s gone the distance with a few heavy hitters. With Yoo coming off a TKO loss, I’ll use that to decide my pick. I’m not very enthusiastic, though. Best bet: Michael Aswell Jr. moneyline (+225) Responsible Betting Betting on sports involves risk, so please only wager amounts you can afford to lose. If you or someone you know if struggling with gambling help can be found with the organizations listed below: USA: National Problem Gambling Helpline — Call or text 1-800-GAMBLER to receive support and learn about available services. UK: GamCare – Call 0808 8020 133 to speak to an advisor about gambling (or visit gamecare.org.uk for live chat and forum options). Canada: Visit responsiblegambling.org for resources on helplines in Canada’s various provinces and territories. Australia/New Zealand: National Gambling Helpline — Call (800) 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au. UFC 331 Early ‘Prelims’ Under Card Odds Ryan Gandra (-455) vs. Ozzy Diaz (+350) Gandra lit up Zach Reese in July for a quick TKO win (see it here). Before that he took just 41 seconds to put away Jose Medina (see it here). He’s now 10-1 as a pro. His sole loss was in his second ever pro bout, back in 2022. Diaz lasted a round and a bit before getting finished by Ateba Gautier (see that here). Before that he won a war with Djorden Santos. His other UFC bout was a stoppage loss to Zhang Mingyang. I’m really impressed by Gandra. His striking is very technical with lots of his strikes coming straight down the middle. Diaz often gets called ‘tough’ in fights. You know what that means, though? It means he’s getting hit a bunch. The man has absorbed 6.52 sig. strikes a minute over his UFC career. I think Diaz’s leaky defense means that Gandra’s power is going to find a way in and lead to the stoppage (just like Gautier’s did). I’ll take the under here instead of the moneyline on Gandra. Best bet: Under 1.5 rounds (-250) Edmen Shahbazyan (-162) vs. Brunno Ferreira (+136) Shahbazyan saw his three fight winning streak get snapped in June. That’s due to a Fight of the Night earning decision loss to Brendan Allen. The winning streak included finishes over Andre Muniz and Dylan Budka. Ferreira was wrestle-mugged by Ikram Aliskerov in June, for a unanimous decision loss. Before that he was put down, in the first round, by Gregory Rodrigues (see it here). That was a revenge fight for RoboCop, whom Ferreira beat early in their UFC careers. This is a weird fight. Ferreira is undersized (with very short arms), but he still struggles to make Middleweight. He’s fun, in that he throws caution to the wind often, but that means he’s been on the wrong side of some highlights. Shahbazyan sometimes looks the part, but he’s notorious for giving fights away in the latter stages. I don’t think Ferreira is someone who will have the gas left in the tank to make a comeback against Shahbazyan. So I’ll pick against him here. I think Shabazyan’s size and fundamentals will help him avoid Ferrreira’s wildness. Best bet: Edmen Shahbazyan moneyline (-162) Casey O’Neill (-205) vs. Eduarda Moura (+170) O’Neill got one of the best wins of her career in March, when she got a first round TKO over Gabriella Fernandes (see it here). Before that she won a decision over Luana Santos. There was a year and a half between those fights, though. Moura lost a bloody bout to Wang Cong in February. She missed weight for that one. Before that loss she took pretty convincing decisions over Lauren Murphy and Veronica Hardy. Her other UFC loss is to Denise Gomes, by split decision. Gomes has looked very good since then. As I always do when O’Neill fights, I’m going to point out that she lands 7.89 sig. strikes a minute. That makes her fourth… in the whole UFC. Historically, there hasn’t been much mustard on those strikes, but she got the finish in her last fight. Moura is good, and tough, but her two losses are to strikers. And with O’Neill having decent takedown defense (70 percent), I think O’Neill is the pick here. Best bet: Casey O’Neill moneyline (-205) Giga Chikadze (+295) vs. Joanderson Brito (-375) Chikadze suffered a scary knockout in his last fight, against Kevin Vallejos in December (see it here). That was his third loss in a row after dropped decisions to David Onama and Arnold Allen. His last win was over Alex Caceres in 2023. He turned 38 in August. Brito beat Jordan Leavitt with a front choke in June (see it here). Before that he scored a decision over short notice opponent Isaac Thomson. He’s now 7-3 in UFC. He came into the promotion off a 2021 Contender Series victory over Diego Lopes. The round total on this fight really stands out to me. It’s 1.5. Chikadze’s last fight finished just under 1.5 rounds, but that was the first time that happened since 2021. Brito got a first round submission in his last fight (against a guy who moved division immediately after), but he had three decisions leading up to that. I’ll take the over, thinking this is a pretty close fight. Best bet: Over 1.5 rounds (-175) UFC 331 Long Shots! Here’s a couple of long shots for Saturday night’s action … Two bet parlay: Iwo Baraniewski moneyline and Under 0.5 rounds (+300) Iwo Baraniewski has very silly (and FUN!) fights. So it’s time for a silly bet. His fights go by quick and Menifield has more stoppage losses than most. Give me a parlay that pays with Baranieski wins in less than two minutes and thirty seconds. Joshua Van to win by KO/TKO/DQ in Round 5 (+1600) We’ve been blessed with some great fights this year. Flyweights are super over-represented in that list. These guys always bring it and show off all facets of the game. I’m hoping that Van vs. Pantoja 2 is a classic and that Van’s champion-level heart comes through with a big epic finish at the end. Sean Sharaf by KO/TKO/DQ (+2200) Gable Steveson is 4-0 and -18000. This is the year of the upset and I’m going to fade Steveson until he shows me I should do otherwise. To checkout the latest and greatest UFC 331: “Van vs. Pantoja 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.