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UFC 331 Results: Joshua Van defeats Alexandre Pantoja (Highlights)

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UFC 331 Results: Joshua Van defeats Alexandre Pantoja (Highlights)

We have you covered for all of tonight's UFC 331 results, including the men's flyweight title fight rematch between Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja.

Van and Pantoja originally collided at UFC 323 in December of last year, where ‘The Fearless' walked away with the promotion's coveted men's flyweight title after ‘The Cannibal' suffered a nasty arm injury the rendered him unable to continue (see that here).

Joshua Van (17-2 MMA) has since successfully defended the 125lbs strap, this after earning a fifth-round TKO victory over Japanese standout Tatsuro Taira. The 24-year-old will enter tonight's rematch sporting a seven-fight winning streak.

Meanwhile, Alexandre Pantoja (30-6 MMA) will be returning to the Octagon for the first time since suffering the aforementioned arm injury against Van at UFC 323. Prior to that setback, ‘The Cannibal' was riding a seven-fight winning streak, a stretch which included four successful title defenses over the likes of Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, Kai Asakura and Kai Kara-France.

Round one of the UFC 331 main event begins and Alexandre Pantoja gets Joshua Van down to the canvas within the first ten seconds. He begins working from full guard position. He quickly moves to full mount and has the champ flattened out. Van looking to land some shots from off his back, but he'd be better off attempting to scramble from this position. Pantoja moves to the back. He lands some big shots, but Van is able to slip outside and then land in top position. That was impressive, especially against ‘The Cannibal'. The Brazilian with a big combination. Now a huge knee to the body. And another. He looks for a trip takedown, but it is not there. The flyweight standouts both land jabs. Joshua Van with an uppercut. Alexandre Pantoja answers with another good knee to the body and then a pair of calf kicks. Van with a combination now. He lands a good left. Now an elbow from the champ. That appeared to stun Pantoja. Still, the former champ is able to get inside and land a takedown. He lands in full mount. Van scrambles and gets back to his feet. He lands a left hook before the buzzer.

Round two of the UFC 331 main event begins and Alexandre Pantoja comes forward quickly and lands a combination. Now a big knee. Joshua Van answers with a combination. The fighters trade in the pocket. Van slips and glances Pantoja with a shot. The cut causes a stoppage in the action and now the doctor is coming in to see how bad the injury is. We restart and Alexandre Pantoja is right back on the gas. He forces the clinch and pushes Van against the cage. Still four minutes left in this round. Pantoja with a takedown attempt, but he can't get it. He breaks off the cage and lands two low kicks. Van with a nice combination in return. Now a jab and then a low kick from the Brazilian. Alexandre Pantoja eats a hard jab. Now a low kick and then one to the body by Joshua Van. The fighters trade in the pocket. Pantoja shoots in and then opts to throw Van to the side. Good left hands from Van. Pantoja with a jab. He's leaking bad. He tries a trip takedown. Van avoids and is able to land on top. He opts to let ‘The Cannibal' back to his feet. Joshua Van with a big right. Pantoja with a takedown. He takes the back of the champ. Ten seconds remain. Alexandre looking for the choke but the horn sounds.

Round three of the UFC 331 headliner begins and Joshua Van lands a pair of hard jabs to start. Alexandre Pantoja with an inside low kick. Now a front kick and then a big knee. Van just eats it and seems to be just fine. He rips a hook to the body of the Brazilian. Pantoja with a low kick, but Van lands another solid right over the top. Both men are landing clean shots. Back and forth action this round. Pantoja gets inside and scores a big takedown with ninety seconds remaining. Some short shots from the former champ. Van scrambles back up. 25-seconds remain. Van with a big right and another. Pantoja says bring it on and lands a right of his own. This is a great fight. We head to round four.

Round four of the UFC 331 headliner begins and Alexandre Pantoja lands a hard body kick to start. He lands a good right now. Joshua Van answers with a left hook and then a nice right up the middle. Another right from the champ. Pantoja shoots in and scores a takedown. He needs to get off some offense from this position. He's in side control. Van gets back to full guard. We hit the halfway point of the round. He continues to keep Joshua Van grounded. This has been a big round for the former champ in terms of control and recovery. 70 seconds remain. Van attempts a heel hook. Alexandre Pantoja escapes and reestablishes top control. We head to one final round.

The fifth and final round of the UFC 331 main event begins and Joshua Van comes forward aggressively. Alexandre Pantoja keeps him at bay with three straight kicks. He lands another two. Van counters with a nice right hand. The fighters trade in the pocket. Van with a jab. Pantoja with a low kick. A nice right hook from Van. Now a big combination. Pantoja with a body kick. He lands another after missing with a left hook. A big right hand and now a left hook from the champ. Midway through the round now. Van rocks Pantoja. He's down. Van jumps on him. He looks for a kimura. Pantoja gets up but he's a mess. Joshua Van with a takedown. He's on top and working some shots. Alexandre Pantoja gets up and unloads some final punches but he's likely going to be on the wrong end of the judges' scorecards here. Great fight!

Official UFC 331 Results: Joshua Van def. Alexandre Pantoja by unanimous decision (49–46, 49–47, 50–45)

Who would you like to see Van fight next following his victory over Pantoja this evening in Los Angeles? Share your thoughts in the comment section Penn Nation!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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Morning Report: Dominick Cruz, T.J. Dillashaw defend Ciryl Gane against ‘cheater’ accusations

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Morning Report: Dominick Cruz, T.J. Dillashaw defend Ciryl Gane against ‘cheater’ accusations

I don’t know if we’ve collectively come down from the high of UFC 333, but we’ve got APEX action this weekend with Renato Moicano and Tom Nolan headlining UFC Vegas 123.

Moicano vs. Nolan falls into one of 2026’s matchmaking trends, that of the longtime contender vs. the streaking up and comer. When we last saw Moicano, he was snapping a two-fight losing streak with an impressive win over Chris Duncan in the UFC Vegas 115 main event; now, he defends his top 15 spot again against the rising Tom Nolan, who has won five straight fights after a stoppage loss in his UFC debut.

Can “Money” slow down “Big Train” on Saturday night?

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Paulo Costa slams UFC pay after Rampage Jacksons $7 million claim

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Paulo Costa slams UFC pay after Rampage Jackson's $7 million claim
Paulo
Costa has renewed his criticism of fighter pay in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

A resurfaced clip shows UFC middleweight champion Sean
Strickland asking former light heavyweight champion Quinton
“Rampage” Jackson about his biggest UFC payday. Jackson said he
earned $7 million, including pay-per-view compensation, for
fighting Chuck
Liddell. Costa contrasted that figure with his estimate of what
a current UFC fighter earns.

Paulo Costa compares Rampage Jackson’s claimed $7 million
payday with estimated Raoni Barcelos earnings

Jackson attributed the payday to a contract he signed with World
Fighting Alliance, where he said his manager also had a promotional
role. According to Jackson, the deal included lucrative
pay-per-view terms that the UFC inherited when its parent company
acquired WFA assets in December 2006.

“$7 million, Chuck Liddell, that was pay-per-view, though,†Jackson
told Strickland. “I left
Pride. My manager, he became like the manager of the show. So,
he knew exactly that it was his biggest deal. They didn't want to
have pay-per-view, so he gave me a crazy pay-per-view deal. Then
Dana White bought WFA and had to honor my pay-per-view deal.â€

Costa compared Jackson's account with Raoni
Barcelos' stoppage loss to Raul Rosas
Jr. last month. Barcelos, 39, lost consciousness during a
fifth-round grappling exchange. Costa speculated that Barcelos
earned between $80,000 and $100,000, contrasting that estimate with
Jackson's claimed earnings from his 2007 victory over Liddell.

“UFC paid Rampage 7 million to fight Chuck what is comprehensive,â€
Costa wrote on X. “Not comparing fighters relevance but comparing
it with Barcelos x Rosas Jr 5 rds and had serious injuries on brain
damage, made 80k~100k ?? Raoni Barcelos is around 40s and probably
retired due to that injury.â€

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Video shows police officer slamming spectator at UFC Edmonton

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Video shows police officer slamming spectator at UFC Edmonton
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship's recent visit to Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada, featured action inside and outside the
Octagon.

Police intervene in Rogers Place crowd altercation during UFC
Edmonton

Every bout at
UFC Edmonton except the co-main event ended in a finish. But a
crowd altercation at Rogers Place on Oct. 17 also drew
attention.

Video circulating on social media appears to show a police officer
lifting a man and slamming him to the floor as officers intervene
in the altercation. The man appears to lose consciousness after the
impact.

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