A flyweight title rematch between Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja will headline UFC 331 in September, officials announced Thursday.
Additionally, a five-round, lightweight matchup between Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy will co-headline the event, which will take place Sept. 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Van (17-2) won the UFC’s 125-pound championship in a first-round TKO over Pantoja (30-6) in December. But the result was somewhat unsettled as Pantoja suffered a freak elbow injury in the opening seconds, when bracing to catch himself on the mat after Van caught an early kick. Van has repeatedly expressed interest in running back a matchup to silence any doubt about his status as champion. He has already defended the belt once, against Tatsuro Taira in May.
Tsarukyan (23-3) has turned into one of the UFC’s biggest stars, despite not fighting since a second-round submission win over Dan Hooker in November. The 29-year-old is widely seen as the most deserving No. 1 lightweight title challenger. He is 10-2 in the UFC, and is currently riding a five-fight win streak. He was scheduled to challenge then-champion Islam Makhachev for the title in January 2025 but was forced to withdraw the week of the fight because of back spasms.
Ruffy (14-2) is considered one of the most dangerous new title prospects at lightweight. The Brazilian is 5-1 in the UFC with four knockouts. Tsarukyan and Ruffy are currently ranked No. 2 and No. 7 in the division, respectively.
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UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan will have to wait a bit longer for a potential lightweight title shot.
Tsarukyan, who hasn’t fought since submitting Dan Hooker last year at UFC Qatar, was rumored to fight BMF titleholder Charles Oliveira at UFC 331 next month. Tsarukyan defeated Oliveira in a closely contested matchup at UFC 300 earlier in their careers.
After his short-notice withdrawal from his fight against then-UFC lightweight champ Islam Makhachev at UFC 311, Tsarukyan’s path back to the title has hit multiple delays. In recent weeks, it was reported by multiple outlets that the UFC was working on a rematch between Tsarukyan and Oliveira at UFC 331.
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What?
Well what the fuck, who does Charles fight then. This is WAY too soon for Ruffy.
Gaethje/charles IS the next title shot now, imo.
Both can fight by years end for a years end extravaganza.
Both huge fan favorites.
Championship vs BMF belt unification.
Both were finished by someone that the other guy dominated.
Give two aging lions their last big hurrah.
Already a built-in story due to their last meeting.
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Massive test for Ruffy based on how he did against BSD not that long ago. He must feel confident.
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Enormous. We’ve seen this so many times. This is such a giant step up from anyone he has ever faced. BSD is also a retard lol. This matchup kind of reminds of when Paddy went from beating Chandler to fighting Gaethje for a title.
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I guess the problem is, what is Charles gonna do right now? If he’s not fighting then the shot has to go to Ruffy/Arman. Otherwise I completely agree Charles vs Gaethje is the way to go
I want van to win but I don’t think he will
