Van and Pantoja Make Weight for UFC 331

Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja both weighed 125 pounds on September 18, making their UFC 331 flyweight championship rematch official. The champion and challenger met the title limit in Los Angeles ahead of their September 19 main event at Crypto.com Arena. Neither needed the extra pound permitted in a non-title flyweight contest.

Pantoja was the second athlete to reach the scale, and Van later matched his weight. All 24 fighters on the card successfully completed the official weigh-in. For the two headliners, that clears the final weight requirement for a rematch that has been pending since their first meeting ended with Pantoja’s arm injury last December.

The circumstances are different this time. Van has already defended the championship against Tatsuro Taira, while Pantoja is returning to competition for the first time since losing it. They arrive at the same weight with very different experiences behind them: one has strengthened his claim to the belt, and the other finally has the opportunity to win it back.

A second meeting after a 26-second title change

Their UFC 323 bout lasted only 26 seconds. Pantoja injured his elbow during a fall, bringing the contest to an abrupt end and making Van champion. The short duration left little opportunity to assess how their styles would interact over a full championship fight, which is why this second meeting carries questions that an ordinary rematch might already have answered.

Van’s first defense supplied a much longer examination. At UFC 328 on May 9, he stopped Taira with strikes 1:32 into the fifth round. Taira had made the champion work on the ground, but Van repeatedly returned to his feet and made his striking count. His pressure eventually produced the finish after four competitive rounds.

That performance gave Van a title victory built over an extended contest. It also means he enters UFC 331 with experience managing a championship fight that reached its final round. The rematch with Pantoja is therefore a test of the champion who developed through the Taira fight, rather than simply a replay of the athlete who collected the belt in December.

Pantoja brings a longer championship history. He first won the belt from Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 in 2023 and defended it four times before facing Van. His return offers a direct route back to the position he held through that reign, but it comes against an opponent who has remained active while he recovered.

The flyweight title takes the headline slot

This is also a significant assignment for the division. UFC’s fight-week feature identifies the event as the ninth numbered card headlined by a men’s flyweight title contest. Van has spoken with pride about representing the weight class, as well as Myanmar, as he prepares for his second defense.

The stakes are clear without reducing either fighter to the circumstances of the first result. Van can add a victory over the division’s previous leading champion to his defense against Taira. Pantoja can begin a second reign by beating the man who ended his first. Their official weights keep both possibilities intact.

For viewers preparing to watch the main event, the key details are:

• The fight takes place on September 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
• The flyweight championship contest is scheduled for five rounds.
• The main card begins at 9 p.m. ET on Paramount+ in the United States; that is the broadcast start, not a fixed time for the title fight.

Friday’s official weigh-in settled eligibility, not the competitive questions. Van has shown that he can sustain his offense deep into a title defense. Pantoja now gets the extended contest he was denied by injury in December. With both men on the championship limit, the rematch can move from an unfinished story to a fight decided inside the Octagon.