Following a chaotic and electric night of fights in UFC's first event in downtown Los Angeles in eight years, there's plenty to discuss about UFC 331 inside Crypto.com Arena. Joshua Van made the second defense of his flyweight title in the main event by holding off former champion Alexandre Pantoja in their thrilling five-round rematch. In the co-main event, Arman Tsarukyan made an incredibly strong case for a lightweight title shot by knocking out Mauricio Ruffy in the first round.
Let's take a closer look at the biggest takeaways from a memorable event in "The CIty of Angels." In just over three years as a UFC fighter, the 24-year-old Van has fought an incredible 12 times inside the Octagon and three of his last four appearances have been some of the flyweight division's best fights of the modern era. Van's rematch with Pantoja on Saturday was no different as the native of Myanmar took a massive step forward on his path to true stardom by headlining a huge event in Los Angeles and thrilling the crowd by winning a five-round slugfest. In a very short period of time, Van has proved that his fighting spirit might just be unmatched across the elite level of the sport, most importantly by how hard and fresh he continues to perform in the championship rounds when it matters the most.
During his first title defense in May, Van made key mid-fight adjustments and surged late to finish Tatsuro Taira in Round 5 of an instant classic. And just like in his breakthrough decision win over Brandon Royval in 2025, which went on to earn fight of the year honors, Van scored an emphatic knockdown of Pantoja in the final round to leave no doubt on the scorecards. Considering their first fight ended after 26 seconds due to an injury and Pantoja fought their rematch at a breakneck pace in search of revenge, many a young champion would've folded in his shoes.
But Van continues to prove he's simply built different. "Doubt me now." - @JoshuaVanBT 📺 @paramountplus🗣️ pic.twitter.com/UHjNEmeMG0 After not getting the credit for his title victory just 10 months ago, Van's performance in the rematch had so much more to do than him simply being durable and willing to push forward through the storm. Van showcased a continually evolving skillset by having an answer for everything thrown his way by Pantoja, the Brazilian legend who, at 36, still looked to be in pound-for-pound form.
The crisp variety of Van's boxing turned out to be the difference offensively as he routinely made Pantoja pay for coming forward with such reckless abandon. But Van's markedly improved takedown defense, not to mention the grappling skills he showed against such a decorated black belt, which included a submission attempt by Van via kimura in the final round, looked to truly be world class. Yes, Van's combination of elite stamina and durability deserve recognition.
But he's clearly also on his way to building a mastery of the technical side of the sport, just the same. And that's a scary reality for the rest of the division. VAN ROCKS PANTOJA IN THE 5TH!!📺 @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/U7EbDDlYgf The setting was kind of perfect.
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