UFC 331 Predictions: Van vs Pantoja 2 (19-09-2026)

UFC 331 takes place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 19, with flyweight champion Joshua Van facing former titleholder Alexandre Pantoja for the second time.

The co-main event features a five-round lightweight matchup between Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy, while Patricio Pitbull vs Dooho Choi, Alonzo Menifield vs Iwo Baraniewski and Gable Steveson vs Sean Sharaf complete the main card.

Marlon Vera vs Charles Jourdain and Edmen Shahbazyan vs Brunno Ferreira are among the notable preliminary matchups.

Three markets stand out from the current UFC 331 betting lines.

The main event offers an attractive underdog price on the former champion, Jourdain brings strong recent form into his bantamweight matchup with Vera, and Shahbazyan vs Ferreira provides an interesting early-finish angle at better than even money.

The odds used below were available on September 16 and may change before fight night.

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The first meeting between Van and Pantoja provided almost no evidence about how this matchup actually plays out over a normal fight.

Pantoja suffered an arm injury only 26 seconds into their UFC 323 title fight, leaving him unable to continue and handing Van the championship by TKO.

The rematch therefore starts without the kind of meaningful head-to-head evidence normally available after two fighters have already shared the Octagon.

Before the injury, Pantoja had won eight consecutive fights and successfully defended the flyweight title four times.

His last two successful defenses ended by submission against Kai Asakura and Kai Kara-France, extending a run that had established him as the division’s leading fighter before the unusual loss to Van.

Pantoja enters the rematch with a 30-6 professional record and 12 submission victories.

His UFC numbers include 2.79 takedowns per 15 minutes, but the more important part of his grappling game comes after the initial entry.

He is particularly dangerous when he can establish back control and turn extended grappling exchanges into submission opportunities.

Van’s first title defense against Tatsuro Taira showed why that part of Pantoja’s game matters here.

Taira repeatedly brought the champion to the canvas and controlled most of the opening nine minutes through his wrestling.

Van eventually worked back into the fight, took over in the striking exchanges and stopped Taira 92 seconds into round five, but the early stages demonstrated that sustained grappling pressure can limit his offensive output.

Van is far from an easy fighter to wrestle. His official UFC takedown defense stands at 76%, while his striking output is exceptional at 8.43 significant strikes landed per minute.

He is also only 24 and has already shown the ability to recover from difficult rounds without allowing his pace to collapse late in a five-round fight.

That makes prolonged striking exchanges the more dangerous route for Pantoja. Van works at a higher pace, carries meaningful power and can build momentum quickly once given space.

Pantoja does not need to beat him at that game. Clinch pressure, takedown attempts, back takes and extended control can reduce the amount of time Van has to establish his striking rhythm.

Taira already demonstrated that this route is available, while Pantoja brings considerably more experience in championship fights and a proven submission threat once the fight reaches the mat.

The first fight offers little reason to treat Pantoja as a clear underdog based on the matchup itself.

At 2.10, his grappling advantage and multiple routes to controlling rounds make the former champion the more appealing side of the main-event moneyline.

Charles Jourdain has won all three fights since moving down to bantamweight.

The Canadian submitted Victor Henry with a guillotine in the second round of his divisional debut, stopped Davey Grant with the same technique in round one and then defeated Kyler Phillips by unanimous decision in April.

All three judges scored the Phillips fight 29-28, giving Jourdain his third consecutive victory at 135 pounds.

Vera enters UFC 331 on a four-fight losing streak. The former title challenger has been beaten by Sean O’Malley, Deiveson Figueiredo, Aiemann Zahabi and David Martinez since his last victory against Pedro Munhoz in August 2023.

UFC’s own fight preview notes that he arrives in Los Angeles looking to end a four-fight slide.

There is an important qualification to that record: Vera has not been stopped during the losing run. All four fights reached the judges, including five rounds against O’Malley in a UFC title fight.

That durability makes the straight Jourdain moneyline preferable to chasing a larger price through a specific method of victory.

Jourdain has also shown more than one way to win since changing divisions. Henry and Grant were caught in submissions, while the Phillips fight required a different approach.

Phillips found success with his wrestling early, but Jourdain remained active, increased his striking output as the fight progressed and took over enough of the contest to earn the unanimous decision and Fight of the Night honors.

Vera remains highly experienced and has spent years facing elite bantamweight opposition, so a four-fight losing streak should not be treated as proof that he is no longer competitive.

The concern is the contrast between his recent results and Jourdain’s progress since moving to 135 pounds.

Jourdain is producing more consistently, can threaten submissions when grappling opportunities appear and does not require an early finish to win.

Against an opponent who has repeatedly proven difficult to stop, that versatility makes Charles Jourdain to win the cleaner betting angle.

Few fights on the UFC 331 card offer more obvious early finishing potential than Edmen Shahbazyan against Brunno Ferreira.

Shahbazyan owns a 16-6 professional record with 13 knockout victories and 13 first-round finishes. His offensive threat has always been greatest early, when his speed and power can punish opponents before the fight settles into a slower rhythm.

Ferreira brings an equally aggressive finishing record. The Brazilian has nine knockout wins and five submissions, has finished all but one of his victories and owns 11 first-round stoppages.

He has reached the judges only twice in 19 professional fights.

Recent results provide the strongest argument against simply relying on those career numbers.

Shahbazyan went the full three rounds with Brendan Allen in June and lost by unanimous decision, with the judges scoring the fight 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.

The competitive fight earned Fight of the Night honors but also showed that Shahbazyan is capable of operating for a full 15 minutes against strong opposition.

Ferreira has also reached the scorecards twice in his last three appearances. He earned the first decision victory of his professional career against Marvin Vettori in December, was knocked out by Gregory Rodrigues after 1:47 of the opening round in March and then lost a three-round unanimous decision to Ikram Aliskerov in June.

Those results are exactly why the 2.15 price matters. An early finish is not automatic, and the market is offering better than even money because both have recently shown they can reach the judges.

The matchup still creates danger from both sides.

Shahbazyan has enough power to punish Ferreira in the opening exchanges, while Ferreira can answer with both strikes and submissions.

The bet therefore does not depend on one fighter controlling the matchup or even winning it. Either man can produce the required finish.

Under 1.5 rounds requires the fight to end before the 2:30 mark of round two.

With both fighters historically doing their most destructive work early and Ferreira having spent only six of his 19 professional fights beyond the opening round, Under 1.5 Rounds offers enough upside to justify the risk.