Joshua Van defends UFC flyweight title against Alexandre Pantoja as Tsarukyan knocks out Ruffy

Flyweight championship rematch

Flyweight champion Joshua Van defended his title against Alexandre Pantoja on Saturday night at UFC 331 in Los Angeles, securing a unanimous decision victory across five rounds. The result was Van's second successful title defense following his stoppage of Tatsuro Taira in May. The 24-year-old native of Myanmar had originally claimed the belt from Pantoja in December, when an early injury to the Brazilian cut their first fight short. Pantoja began aggressively in the rematch by securing a takedown within the first ten seconds of round one. Van recovered his footing to display clean boxing, leaving the bout level after two frames despite a brief stoppage for a clash of heads in the second round.

Striking exchanges and judges' scorecards

Pantoja controlled stretches of the third and fourth rounds through grappling and clinch exchanges against the fence. Van responded with sharp striking combinations and stayed resilient when Pantoja escaped a submission attempt. In the final round, Van dropped the 36-year-old former champion with a clean right cross and maintained defensive discipline against late takedowns. Van landed 140 significant head strikes across the fight compared to 99 for Pantoja. The judges scored the contest 49-46, 49-47, and 50-45 for Van, improving his professional mixed martial arts record to 18-2 while dropping Pantoja to 30-7.

“A lot of people said that was an accidental win the first time. Now doubt me now.”

Joshua Van140

Alexandre Pantoja99

Joshua Van

140

Alexandre Pantoja

99

Data from the article text

Lightweight title eliminator finish

In the co-main event, second-ranked lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan defeated seventh-ranked Mauricio Ruffy by knockout in the opening round. Ruffy entered the bout following a technical knockout win against Michael Chandler at UFC Freedom 250 and successfully defended Tsarukyan's initial wrestling attempts. Tsarukyan absorbed strikes that caused visible swelling around his left eye before shifting tactics late in the frame. The 29-year-old Armenian fighter trapped Ruffy against the cage and landed a flush elbow, followed by a second elbow that rendered Ruffy unconscious at 4:56 of the round. The stoppage extended Tsarukyan's winning streak to six consecutive fights and brought his career record to 24-3.

“Of course, for my next fight, for the title fight, I needed that finish, and I knew that I'm gonna finish him. It was a little bit difficult in the first round, but I knew I had five rounds, and my time was going to come. So I was patient.”

Lightweight picture and undercard action

Tsarukyan's victory solidified his position as the primary challenger in the lightweight division, where reigning champion Justin Gaethje observed the bout from ringside. Following the stoppage, Tsarukyan remarked that he is targeting either a lightweight championship matchup next or an exhibition bout against Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg. Earlier on the main card, 15th-ranked featherweight Patricio Pitbull registered a first-round knockout over Dooho Choi. The former two-division Bellator champion hurt Choi with a right hand before finishing the contest, achieving the 13th first-round stoppage of his career and his first knockout victory since moving to the UFC. The result pushed Pitbull's record to 38-9 while Choi dropped to 17-5-1.