Image: UFC

Joshua Van is still the UFC flyweight champion after a unanimous decision over Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331 on 19 September, with the judges scoring it 49-46, 48-47 and 50-45. It was Van's second title defence and a proper answer to their first meeting, which ended through injury seconds into the fight almost a year ago.

Pantoja had his moments. He controlled Van for close to ten minutes and clearly won the first and fourth rounds, but Van outstruck him, defended double-digit takedown attempts and dropped the former champion in the fifth. The bout took Fight of the Night, worth $100,000 to each man.

The numbers around Van keep growing. His eight-fight UFC winning streak at flyweight is now the longest active run in the division, and the official rankings released on 22 September moved him up five places to No. 6 on the men's pound-for-pound list. Pantoja keeps the No. 1 spot at 125lb, with Manel Kape at No. 2.

Los Angeles turned out for it. Crypto.com Arena held an announced crowd of 19,357 for a live gate of $8.3 million. No opponent has been named for Van's next defence, but Kape, at No. 2, looks the logical challenger, while the fight being lined up between Brandon Moreno and Charles Johnson (below) could feed the queue behind him.

Arman Tsarukyan is the clear next challenger at lightweight after flattening Mauricio Ruffy with an elbow at 4:56 of the first round in the UFC 331 co-main event. He did it with a badly swollen left eye from one of Ruffy's own elbows earlier in the round, then celebrated by jumping the Octagon fence. He picked up a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus.

The win extends Tsarukyan's UFC lightweight winning streak to six, tied with Quillan Salkilld for the longest active run in the division. Afterwards he was blunt: "He's fighting me next," he told reporters about champion Justin Gaethje, adding that he had come back and shown he was the No. 1 contender.

Dana White has softened on a fighter he openly criticised after Tsarukyan pulled out of his January 2025 title fight with Islam Makhachev the day before. "Arman made mistakes, and he's made up for them," White said at the post-fight press conference, while stopping short of confirming the fight because Gaethje's plans are unclear.

Gaethje then gave the clearest answer yet on the FLAGRANT podcast, reported on 23 September: "He's the next in line. If and when I defend this championship, that will be who I fight." The catch is the "if". Gaethje, who won the title in June by stopping Ilia Topuria in the fourth round at the UFC White House card, says he has not decided whether to fight again and that the decision is about his health. He also said he thinks Topuria is undersized for lightweight.

For fans, that means the division is waiting on one man. Tsarukyan has floated December, but until Gaethje commits there is no date, and the official rankings still list Topuria at No. 1 and Tsarukyan at No. 2 behind the champion. Ruffy drops one place to No. 8.

Arman Tsarukyan's post-fight press conference after UFC 331 (UFC on YouTube) (source)

The biggest shock of the night came at heavyweight, where Sean Sharaf knocked out Gable Steveson, the Olympic wrestling champion and heavily favoured prospect, with a left hook 12 seconds into the fight. It is tied for the third-fastest finish in UFC heavyweight history, and Sharaf left Los Angeles with $100,000 in bonus money.

For Steveson, the loss resets a project the UFC had pushed hard. For Sharaf, it is the kind of result that buys a ranked opponent next time out.

Elsewhere on the card, Patricio Pitbull stopped Dooho Choi with punches at 3:28 of the first round, Casey O'Neill submitted Eduarda Moura with a first-round armbar for a Performance of the Night bonus, and Joanderson Brito knocked out Giga Chikadze in 1:57. Robelis Despaigne edged Tai Tuivasa on a split decision.

Marlon Vera stopped Charles Jourdain in the third round and set a record along the way: he is the first fighter in UFC history with three separate performances of three or more knockdowns, and his 14 knockdowns at bantamweight are the most in the division's history.

The UFC's rankings update on Tuesday 22 September reflected UFC 331 and a quieter change at the top of the heavyweight division. On the men's pound-for-pound list, Van rose five places to No. 6, Petr Yan moved up one to No. 4, Topuria slipped to No. 5, Tsarukyan climbed to No. 13 and Pantoja dropped to No. 14.

At heavyweight, Ciryl Gane is now listed as champion, with Tom Aspinall at No. 1 after he vacated the title on 14 September because of the continuing effects of the eye injuries from their UFC 321 fight. No. 4 Josh Hokit has publicly called for the first shot at Gane, while No. 2 Alexander Volkov is booked against Rizvan Kuniev at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi on 24 October.

At lightweight, Salkilld moved up to No. 7, Ruffy fell to No. 8 and Mateusz Gamrot rose to No. 10, with Rafael Fiziev and Renato Moicano tied at No. 11. Vera sits at No. 10 at bantamweight after his win over Jourdain.

The oblique kick could be on the way out. Andy Foster, executive director of the California State Athletic Commission, told TSN's Aaron Bronsteter on 20 September that he wants lateral kicks to the knee made a foul, and that he would also like fouls reclassified into more serious categories to cut down on eye pokes.

The trigger was UFC 331, which Foster's commission regulated. During Edmen Shahbazyan's unanimous decision win over Brunno Ferreira, Shahbazyan was heard asking his corner whether Ferreira was allowed to kick his knee like that. The technique is designed to hyperextend the knee, and critics such as Quinton "Rampage" Jackson have wanted it outlawed for more than a decade.

Dana White backed Foster after the Contender Series card on 22 September: "Listen, he's the most powerful guy in the commission anywhere in the world, and he's the best. And we don't disagree." That matters, because the UFC's support removes the most obvious obstacle to a change.

Nothing is banned yet. A change to the Unified Rules needs agreement between regulators, so expect this to run through the Association of Boxing Commissions rather than happen overnight. Fighters who rely on the kick, and coaches who teach it, will be watching closely.

John Martin left his role as chief executive of the merged PFL and MVP business on 22 September, effective immediately, around two months after the deal with Jake Paul's company was announced on 30 July. He had joined the PFL in July 2025, replacing Peter Murray.

Nakisa Bidarian, Paul's long-time business partner and MVP co-founder, now leads the company into a planned January 2027 relaunch as MVP MMA. Martin's parting statement endorsed him: "Nakisa and I worked closely together to bring these companies together, and I believe he is the natural person to lead this next chapter."

The change puts the company firmly in the hands of the people behind MVP, whose Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano event in May peaked at 11.6 million viewers on Netflix, a record for MMA viewing in the US. For PFL-contracted fighters and fans, the man who signed off on the merger is gone before the rebrand has even launched, and the direction of the 2027 product now rests with the MVP side.

Brandon Moreno vs Charles Johnson is in the works for UFC 335 on 12 December at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz and Mike Heck reported on 24 September. It is not yet official. Moreno, ranked No. 8, returned to winning ways by beating Joseph Morales at Noche UFC earlier this month after two straight defeats, while Johnson has alternated wins and losses across his past six fights.

Kyoji Horiguchi vs Asu Almabayev has been added to UFC Qatar on 21 November, according to a report on 23 September. Horiguchi (No. 5) is coming off a knockout loss to Kape in June, while Almabayev (No. 7) has won three in a row, including a Suloev stretch submission of Johnson at UFC Baku. The winner has a strong case for a top-four spot in 2027.

Luis Hernandez makes his UFC debut against Sedriques Dumas at UFC Vegas 121 this Saturday after Mickey Gall withdrew on 24 September with medical issues found during fight week. Hernandez (8-0) earned his contract with a second-round rear-naked choke of Hugo Guillon on Dana White's Contender Series just 11 days earlier. Dumas (10-5) has not won since August 2024 and badly needs this one.

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland escaped with scrapes to his head and shoulder after the side-by-side vehicle he was a passenger in rolled around six times at roughly 60mph in the Nevada desert, as he showed in a video shared on social media this week. He admitted he was not wearing a helmet: "I'm an idiot." His friend, who was driving, briefly lost consciousness and was taken to hospital.

Strickland has no fight booked and his next defence was already held up by shoulder problems. Based on his own video he does not appear to have been seriously hurt, so the crash should not change the middleweight picture, but it is not the preparation the UFC would want from a champion.

UFC Vegas 121, Saturday 26 September: Raul Rosas Jr. (No. 12) meets Raoni Barcelos (No. 13) in a bantamweight main event at the Meta APEX, with Norma Dumont (No. 4) against Ailin Perez (No. 5) at women's bantamweight in the co-main. UK viewers get prelims from 10pm BST and the main card from 1am BST on Sunday.

UFC 332, Saturday 3 October: Natalia Silva faces Wang Cong for the women's flyweight title at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, with Deiveson Figueiredo against Payton Talbott on the main card. The main card starts at 1am BST on Sunday 4 October.

Off the cage, watch for Gaethje's decision on his future, any official confirmation of Moreno vs Johnson, and whether other commissions follow California's lead on oblique kicks. Check the official UFC Vegas 121 card on fight day for any further late changes.

Image: UFC

• ESPN: UFC 331 results, Van retains title; Tsarukyan becomes top lightweight contender
• CBS Sports: UFC 331 card, results, highlights and winners
• Yahoo Sports: UFC 331 post-event facts, Vera sets unique knockdown record
• Cageside Press: Arman Tsarukyan says Justin Gaethje is next after UFC 331 win
• Uncrowned: Dana White changes tune on Arman Tsarukyan after UFC 331 knockout
• MMA Fighting via Yahoo Sports: Justin Gaethje thinks Ilia Topuria is too small for lightweight, says Tsarukyan is next in line
• UFC: Official athlete rankings
• MMA Crossfire: Dana White doesn't disagree with Andy Foster's move to ban oblique kicks
• Forbes via Yahoo Sports: Dana White weighs in on major suggested MMA rule change
• ESPN: PFL CEO John Martin resigns nearly two months after merger with MVP
• MMA Fighting via Yahoo Sports: Brandon Moreno vs Charles Johnson in the works for UFC 335
• Yahoo Sports: Horiguchi returns versus Almabayev at UFC Qatar
• MMA Fighting via Yahoo Sports: Sedriques Dumas gets new opponent on two days' notice at UFC Vegas 121
• Yahoo Sports: UFC champion shows injuries after accident without helmet on
• UFC: UFC Fight Night Rosas Jr. vs Barcelos event page
• UFC: UFC 332 Silva vs Wang event page

Who won Van vs Pantoja 2 at UFC 331?

Joshua Van beat Alexandre Pantoja by unanimous decision on 19 September 2026, with scores of 49-46, 48-47 and 50-45. Van outstruck Pantoja, defended double-digit takedown attempts and knocked him down in the fifth round. It was Van's second successful defence of the UFC flyweight title and extended his UFC winning streak at flyweight to eight.

Is Arman Tsarukyan getting the next lightweight title shot?

Tsarukyan is the clear next challenger, but the fight is not booked. Champion Justin Gaethje said on the FLAGRANT podcast that Tsarukyan is next in line if he defends the title, but he has not decided whether he will fight again. Dana White praised Tsarukyan after UFC 331 without confirming a date, so everything depends on Gaethje's decision.

Are oblique kicks being banned in MMA?

Not yet. California State Athletic Commission director Andy Foster said after UFC 331 that he wants lateral kicks to the knee made a foul, and Dana White said the UFC does not disagree. Changing the Unified Rules needs wider agreement among regulators, so any ban would take time and is unlikely to affect fights already booked this year.

Why did John Martin leave the PFL?

John Martin stepped down as chief executive on 22 September 2026, about two months after the PFL announced its merger with Jake Paul's MVP. He said MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian was the natural person to lead the next chapter. Bidarian now runs the combined company, which plans to relaunch as MVP MMA in January 2027.

What time does UFC Vegas 121 start in the UK?

UFC Vegas 121, headlined by Raul Rosas Jr. against Raoni Barcelos at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, takes place on Saturday 26 September. The prelims start at 10pm BST and the main card begins at 1am BST on Sunday 27 September. Luis Hernandez now faces Sedriques Dumas after Mickey Gall withdrew with medical issues.

How fast did Sean Sharaf knock out Gable Steveson?

Sean Sharaf knocked out Gable Steveson with a left hook just 12 seconds into their heavyweight fight at UFC 331 in Los Angeles. The finish is tied for the third-fastest in UFC heavyweight history and was one of the biggest upsets of the year, given Steveson's status as a heavily favoured prospect. Sharaf earned $100,000 in bonus money.