UFC 331: Tsarukyan and Ruffy clash for title shot as Van defends belt against Pantoja

UFC 331 goes down Saturday, Sept. 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. In the five-round main event, flyweight champion Joshua Van defends his title against former champion Alexandre Pantoja.

A must-win for Tsarukyan

The co-main event pits lightweights Arman Tsarukyan (23-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) against Mauricio Ruffy (14-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in what is regarded as a No. 1 contender bout.

Tsarukyan was originally lined up to challenge then-champion Islam Makhachev in January 2025 but withdrew at the last minute due to a back injury. He has not been offered another title shot since, despite remaining the division's top-ranked contender, though he has extended his win streak to five with a finish of Dan Hooker.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Tsarukyan described the fight as decisive for his career: "If I lose this fight, I'm never going to see a title fight," he said, adding that he is highly motivated and has trained hard, while acknowledging Ruffy's dangerous punching power.

Favorite vs. striker

Tsarukyan enters as a heavy favorite thanks to his dominant wrestling and grappling, while Ruffy almost exclusively looks to strike. Former UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev — a close friend and training partner of Tsarukyan's who, according to Sherdog, is rumored to be in his corner — said Tsarukyan's wrestling and grappling are "completely different levels" from Ruffy's, though he called Ruffy one of the best strikers currently in the UFC and noted Tsarukyan is also confident on the feet.

Ruffy arrives off back-to-back first-round TKO finishes of Rafael Fiziev and Michael Chandler; his only UFC loss came against Benoit St. Denis. He recently left Fighting Nerds to join featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski's camp in Australia, where he has focused on takedown defense. Volkanovski said Ruffy "picks up things straight away" and is developing the kind of scrambling instincts and muscle memory that could make life difficult for a wrestler like Tsarukyan, even when tired.