Overview
- All 24 fighters on the UFC 331 card successfully made weight at Friday’s official weigh-ins, including champion Joshua Van and former champion Alexandre Pantoja at exactly 125 pounds.
- The rematch is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles with the flyweight title on the line.
- Press‑week confrontations grew heated as Van and Pantoja traded insults and a tense faceoff, adding an emotional edge to a bout framed as a test of Van’s legitimacy as champion.
- Co‑main eventers Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy also made weight and their five‑round fight is being billed as a potential lightweight title eliminator for a shot at Justin Gaethje’s belt.
- Background context: Pantoja lost the title at UFC 323 after a 26‑second dislocation of his left elbow, Van defended the belt with a fifth‑round TKO of Tatsuro Taira in May, and Pantoja has publicly endorsed Manel Kape as the next flyweight challenger.