There is a pretty simple reason UFC 331 has everyone's attention tonight: the main event never actually got a chance to happen the first time.
Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja are finally getting the rematch nobody got to see.
The UFC returns to Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles tonight with a flyweight championship fight between Van and Pantoja, a five-round lightweight showdown between Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy, the UFC return of former Bellator champion Patricio "Pitbull" Freire, Olympic wrestling gold medalist Gable Steveson, and a heavyweight fight that could last approximately twelve seconds or approximately twelve minutes — because heavyweight MMA is basically organized chaos.
And unlike some UFC cards where the main event is doing all the heavy lifting, this one has plenty of fights that could have consequences well beyond tonight.
VAN VS. PANTOJA 2: NOW WE ACTUALLY GET A FIGHT
Joshua Van (17-2) vs. Alexandre Pantoja (30-6)
UFC Flyweight Championship
Current line: Van -148, Pantoja +124
This is one of the strangest championship rematches the UFC has put together.
Van captured the flyweight title from Pantoja at UFC 323, but Pantoja suffered an injury only seconds into the fight. Van technically became champion, but neither fighter got anything resembling the definitive answer that normally comes with winning a UFC championship fight.
Now they get five rounds to settle it.
Van enters as the favorite after stopping Tatsuro Taira by fifth-round knockout in May. Pantoja, meanwhile, gets another opportunity to reclaim the belt and become a two-time UFC flyweight champion.
The betting market is interesting because this isn't a runaway favorite situation. Van is favored, but Pantoja at +124 is close enough that the sportsbook is essentially saying this is a competitive fight.
FantasyDailies prediction: Joshua Van by decision.
Van's youth, momentum and ability to maintain a high pace give him the path I like here. Pantoja is absolutely live, particularly if he can turn the fight into a grappling-heavy battle and force Van to work from bad positions.
But this time, I'm expecting the fight to go long enough for us to actually find out who's better.
Betting angle: Van at -148 isn't exactly a steal. If you're playing the moneyline, you're paying for the favorite. Pantoja at +124 is the more interesting number for someone looking strictly for underdog value. Run either price through implied probability before deciding which side actually has the value, and devig the market to see the fair line with the juice stripped out.
TSARUKYAN VS. RUFFY: THE NEXT LIGHTWEIGHT CONTENDER COULD BE HERE
Arman Tsarukyan (23-3) vs. Mauricio Ruffy (14-2)
Five-round lightweight bout
Current line: Tsarukyan -310, Ruffy +250
This might be the most important fight on the card that isn't for a championship.
Tsarukyan is ranked No. 2 and enters on a five-fight winning streak. Ruffy is ranked No. 7 and has rapidly moved toward the contender conversation with two knockout wins this year.
And the five-round format matters.
There isn't a championship belt on the line, but there is potentially a title opportunity waiting for the winner. The winner should emerge with a very strong argument for the next lightweight title conversation.
Tsarukyan is a substantial -310 favorite, while Ruffy sits at +250.
That's a serious price.
FantasyDailies prediction: Arman Tsarukyan.
The obvious question is whether Ruffy can keep the fight standing long enough to turn his striking into the deciding factor. Tsarukyan's wrestling and ability to dictate where the fight takes place make him the logical side.
But at -310, you're paying a premium.
Betting angle: Tsarukyan is the safer side on paper, but Ruffy is the guy to consider if you're looking for an underdog with a legitimate path to winning rather than simply throwing a dart at a giant number. The odds converter shows exactly what win rate -310 actually demands before you lay it.
PITBULL VS. CHOI: SOMEBODY IS GETTING HIT
Patricio "Pitbull" Freire (37-9) vs. Doo Ho Choi (17-4-1)
Featherweight
Current line: Pitbull +215, Choi -265
This is one of those fights where the records tell only part of the story.
Pitbull is a former Bellator champion who has gone 1-2 since entering the UFC. Choi has won three straight and is coming off a knockout victory after returning from a lengthy layoff.
The UFC is giving Choi the betting respect, making him a -265 favorite.
The problem with that number is that Pitbull has spent an entire career making people regret overlooking him.
FantasyDailies prediction: Doo Ho Choi by knockout.
I'm expecting violence here. Choi has the recent momentum, and the matchup has all the ingredients for a fight where neither guy wants to spend 15 minutes playing chess.
Betting angle: Choi's moneyline is expensive. If you're betting this fight, the more interesting question may be whether you can get a better number on a finish prop rather than laying -265. The heat map puts every book side by side — fight lines move hard around weigh-ins and not at the same speed everywhere.
STEVESON MAKES ANOTHER STATEMENT
Gable Steveson vs. Sean Sharaf
Heavyweight
Current line: Steveson -2400, Sharaf +1200
This is the most lopsided moneyline on the main card.
Steveson enters at 4-0 professionally and 1-0 in the UFC, while Sharaf is listed at 4-2 overall and 0-2 inside the UFC. The book has Steveson at -2400.
That's not a betting line.
That's basically the sportsbook telling you, "Yes, we know why you're looking at this fight."
FantasyDailies prediction: Gable Steveson.
The bigger question is how he wins and how quickly.
At -2400, there isn't much appeal in simply betting Steveson to win unless you're using him as part of a larger strategy. The underdog number looks attractive at first glance, but +1200 doesn't magically make a bad probability a good bet.
For DFS purposes, however, a heavyweight capable of finishing quickly is a completely different conversation.
MENIFIELD VS. BARANIEWSKI: THE 9-0 PROSPECT GETS A REAL TEST
Alonzo Menifield (18-6-1) vs. Iwo Baraniewski (9-0)
Light heavyweight
Current line: Menifield +195, Baraniewski -238
Baraniewski brings an undefeated 9-0 record into the Octagon, while Menifield has 25 UFC fights worth of experience.
That makes this one particularly interesting.
Baraniewski is favored at -238, but Menifield is sitting at +195 and has considerably more experience in this environment.
FantasyDailies prediction: Iwo Baraniewski.
The undefeated record is impressive, but the real question is whether he can handle Menifield's experience when things get ugly.
This is also a fight where a finish completely changes the DFS equation.
THE PRELIMS AREN'T JUST FILLER
If you're only showing up for Van and Pantoja, you're missing some potentially interesting fights.
Marlon Vera faces Charles Jourdain in a bantamweight matchup, with Jourdain currently favored at -205 against Vera at +170.
Then there's Tai Tuivasa vs. Robelis Despaigne, where Despaigne is a massive -500 favorite. That's exactly the kind of heavyweight line where the betting number tells you what the market expects — but heavyweight fights have never been particularly respectful of expectations.
Michael Aswell Jr. is +160 against JooSang Yoo (-192), while Ryan Gandra is a heavy -520 favorite against Ozzy Diaz (+390).
The early prelims include Edmen Shahbazyan (-192) against Brunno Ferreira (+160), Casey O'Neill (-230) against Eduarda Moura (+190), and Giga Chikadze (+330) against Joanderson Brito (-425).
FANTASYDAILIES PICKS
Joshua Van over Alexandre Pantoja
Arman Tsarukyan over Mauricio Ruffy
Doo Ho Choi over Patricio Pitbull
Gable Steveson over Sean Sharaf
Iwo Baraniewski over Alonzo Menifield
Charles Jourdain over Marlon Vera
Robelis Despaigne over Tai Tuivasa
JooSang Yoo over Michael Aswell
Ryan Gandra over Ozzy Diaz
Edmen Shahbazyan over Brunno Ferreira
Casey O'Neill over Eduarda Moura
Joanderson Brito over Giga Chikadze
THE BOTTOM LINE
UFC 331 has something that makes a card particularly dangerous for bettors: several fights where the favorite is obvious, but the price isn't necessarily obvious.
Van is favored, but Pantoja has already been champion and is getting plus money.
Tsarukyan is a substantial favorite, but Ruffy is exactly the type of dangerous striker who can make a -310 ticket look stupid very quickly.
Choi is favored over Pitbull, but you're laying serious juice against a former champion.
And then you've got heavyweight fights, where apparently everyone involved has collectively agreed that defense is optional.
For FantasyDailies, the biggest story is still the main event.
Van and Pantoja finally get to settle the championship without an injury ending the conversation before it begins.
And if the first few seconds of their original meeting were any indication, this one should be worth staying awake for.
Build Your Card Before The Walkouts
The MMA parlay builder prices every leg off the best number on the wire and reads the ticket back to you before you fire — tap a fighter yourself, or tell it how many legs and how much risk and let it draft from tonight's actual card. The Balanced setting is honest about what it is: two or three short favourites and one live dog, the shape that survives a fight night, which is not what most people build on a twelve-fight card like this one.
Already built something elsewhere? The Parlay Doctor grades any slip A through F — true break-even, buried juice, correlated legs, and which single leg is carrying the whole thing.
Kelly sizes the stake so one wild card doesn't become a wild month, and the hedge calculator computes the exact opposite-side stake if you're one fight from a real payout — on a card this size that comes up more than you'd think. Line movement shows where the money's gone since these numbers opened. Everything else is in the Money Room.
Every call above gets graded on the public ledger tomorrow morning, win or lose, and the calibration page tracks whether our stated confidence has actually meant anything over time.
While The Prelims Run
210 UFC trivia questions — played inside an octagon that rattles when you miss and flashes gold when you don't. UFC 1 to tonight: champions, finishes, records, and the rules nobody actually knows. It counts on the Trivia Network, six games on one leaderboard, and the challenge link hands your mate the exact fifteen questions you just played.
The Not Moved Podcast runs The Scrap Sheet bout by bout before every card — matchups, styles, who has the reach, who fades late, and where the line looks wrong. Full network schedule on the podcast page.
The community has its own MMA board. Tell us we're wrong about Van before the walkouts rather than after.
If your combat sports run past the cage, The Squared Circle has the full WWE and AEW calendar plus 243 wrestling trivia questions in a ring that shakes.
UFC 331 — Van vs. Pantoja 2
Saturday, September 19
Crypto.com Arena — Los Angeles
Main Card: 9 p.m. ET
Prelims: 7 p.m. ET
Early Prelims: 5 p.m. ET
Streaming on Paramount+
Betting lines are snapshots from September 19, 2026 and can move before the fights begin. 21+. Gambling involves risk; odds do not guarantee an outcome. If it stops being fun, 1-800-GAMBLER.
