UFC 331: Van-Pantoja rematch, Tsarukyan returns and full fight card

EXPLAINERUFC 331: Van-Pantoja rematch, Tsarukyan returns and full fight cardVan and Pantoja to fight for flyweight title, while Tsarukyan faces the dangerous Mauricio Ruffy at lightweight.Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja will headline UFC 331 in September in a flyweight title rematch on September 19 in Los Angeles, officials announced on Thursday.Van won the title in their first bout with a first-round TKO in December that was blighted by an early injury to the defending champion Pantoja.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4McGregor injures knee, loses in 69 seconds against Holloway on UFC returnlist 2 of 4California gets Bruce Lee Day in a first for US state’s Chinese Americanslist 3 of 4FBI says it foiled ‘planned attacks’ targeting White House UFC eventlist 4 of 4Gaethje shocks Topuria to win UFC lightweight title at White House eventend of listMeanwhile, lightweights Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy will fight in the co-main event.Here’s everything you need to know about this card.Van-Pantoja rematch: What happened in the first fight?The co-main event fight at UFC 323 in Las Vegas lasted just 26 seconds as then-champion Pantoja (30-6) dislocated his elbow when he fell to the mat after Van (17-2) caught a kick and was unable to continue.Van, aged just 24, became one of the youngest champions in the promotion’s history and ended Pantoja’s eight-fight win streak – including four defences of his title.While Pantoja has been in rehabilitation since the loss, Van defended his title at UFC 328 when he knocked out Tatsuro Taira in the fifth round. Van is now on a seven-fight win streak.Pantoja’s freak injury and the nature of the loss meant a rematch with Van was inevitable.Alexandre Pantoja reacts after his injury in the first bout [Stephen R Sylvanie/Imagn Images via Reuters]Tsarukyan: one of UFC’s biggest stars returns to the OctagonWhile Tsarukyan (23-3) has been wrestling in the Real American Freestyle promotion recently, he last fought in the Octagon in November 2022 at Qatar UFC, when he beat Dan Hooker in the second round with an arm-triangle choke submission.