Joshua
Van further solidified his status as the undisputed
Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight king at UFC
331.

Van retained his title with a unanimous decision over former
champion Alexandre
Pantoja in the UFC 331 main event at Crypto.com Arena in Los
Angeles. The judges scored the bout 49-46, 49-47 and 50-45 for Van,
who had nothing but respect for his Brazilian counterpart after
their clash.

Joshua Van defeats Alexandre Pantoja by unanimous decision at
UFC 331

Their first fight ended in anticlimactic fashion last year, with
Van winning the title after an arm injury to Pantoja forced a
referee stoppage early in the first round. The former then defended
his title against Tatsuro
Taira, but questions remained over whether he's still the best
125-pounder while Pantoja recovered from his injury.

Van silenced the doubters with his performance at UFC 331, landing
significant damage while escaping most grappling entanglements. He
even attempted a submission of his own, but the former champ
managed to get out of it.

“A lot of people say that was an accident win the first time,†Van
said in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “Now, doubt me
now. Shout out to Pantoja. Nothing but respect for me. He’s a tough
man. He’s hard to finish. I did my submission, but I don’t know how
the hell he got out of that. I usually, with that move, I get
everybody in the gym, but I don’t know how the hell he got out of
that.â€

The duo won Fight of the Night honors for their five-round war.

Former UFC star Jon Jones' reaction to Gable Steveson's defeat at UFC 331 was caught on camera last night.

Last night at UFC 331, Gable Steveson's world came crashing down. He was knocked out cold by Sean Sharaf in a matter of seconds, which came at the end of a heated week in which Sharaf really went after Steveson in the build-up to the fight.

RELATED: Gable Steveson believes Jon Jones could return to the UFC heavyweight division

Gable Steveson simply couldn't deal with the pressure being put on him in the early stages of the bout and as a result of that, he now has to go back to the drawing board and see what exactly went wrong as he tries to bounce back into heavyweight contention.

In a video released shortly after the knockout, Gable Steveson's mentor Jon Jones has been seen reacting to what went down in California.

Jon Jones live reaction to Gable Steveson being knocked out at UFC 331 😢 pic.twitter.com/wDc3bfKPCO

— bjpenndotcom (@bjpenndotcom) September 20, 2026

Jones' reaction to Gable Steveson defeat

As you can imagine, Jon Jones wasn't happy with what he saw at UFC 331. In fact, he was pretty shocked, and that makes sense given the amount of hype that has been surrounding Steveson ever since he entered the UFC. it was a brutal moment for his entire team, and it will be interesting to see how he's able to bounce back from it.

For Jones himself, there are already questions about whether or not he will come back to try and ‘save the day' for the UFC's heavyweight division. He has certainly been inconsistent with his messaging to the fans and the promotion, but given where things are at right now, he may provide the exact kind of star power they so desperately need up there.

What do you believe the future holds for Steveson? Can he still go on to become a world champion in the UFC? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, BJPENN Nation!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

---

Dana
White added $50k of his own to the UFC
331 bonuses.

The latest numbered event went down at Crypto.com Arena on Sept. 19
in Los Angeles. The main event earned Fight of the Night honors,
with Joshua Van
defending his flyweight title in a rematch against Alexandre
Pantoja. A special performance bonus in collaboration with the
Paramount+ series “MobLand†was also on deck.

Sean Sharaf knocked out Gable Steveson in just 12 seconds at
UFC 331

Both Van and Pantoja earned $100k each for their instant classic.
Arman
Tsarukyan earned a $100k Performance of the Night bonus for
knocking out Mauricio
Ruffy in the co-main event. Tsarukyan ate an early right hand
from Ruffy that left him visibly damaged. He then caught Ruffy in a
clinch and put him to sleep with two elbows on the break.

Casey
O'Neill (12-2) earned the other $100k POTN bonus for her
submission win over Eduarda
Moura on the prelims. Moura caught an early kick from O'Neill
and took her down. However, O'Neill maintained composure and
suddenly caught Moura in an armbar while flipping her over.

Sean
Sharaf earned a special $50k bonus from the
Ultimate Fighting Championship's broadcast partner Paramount+,
as part of the promotion for the new season of “MobLand,†for his
upset win over Gable
Steveson. The ex-United States Marine put Steveson to sleep
with a left hook in just 12 seconds in a monumental upset. White
added $50k of his own to Sharaf's bonus.

🚨💰 Dana White just announced that Sean Sharaf
who just knocked out Gable
Steveson will get $50K bonus from Mobland and $50K from Dana
himself:

“Someone said he’s $600,000 in debt. Well, we’ll knock $100k off
that.”

🎥 @ufc pic.twitter.com/ShdG8XbW3E

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight)
September 20, 2026