Natalia Silva was crowned the new women’s UFC flyweight champion as she claimed the vacant title with a unanimous decision victory over China’s Wang Cong at UFC 332.
Silva had been set to face Kyrgyzstan’s Valentina Shevchenko for the title before their bout was cancelled, with Shevchenko forced to vacate the belt last month because of injury.
But the Brazilian extended her winning streak to 15 bouts with a dominant victory against Wang over five rounds in Salt Lake City.
“I want to tell this to everyone… don’t give up on anything,” Silva said in her post-fight interview.
“This belt here is because God gave me the opportunity. I knew [Wang] was a tough fighter. This fight proved why she was challenging me.
“This is the beginning of Natalia Silva. I’m the new queen.”
The 29-year-old, who entered the bout as favourite, led the judges’ scorecards with tallies of 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46.
Shevchenko later congratulated Silva on social media and warned her not to get “too comfortable”.
“Well deserved Natalia! Congratulations,” Shevchenko wrote on X.
“It’s my pleasure to know that UFC Champion’s belt is now holding deserving martial artist – such as you are.
“But don’t get too comfortable – keep it warm, I’m coming soon for my belt.”
It was the first women’s main event in the UFC since Mackenzie Dern beat Amanda Ribas in January 2025, while it was the first time two women headlined one of the UFC’s flagship numbered events since June 2023, when Amanda Nunes defeated Irene Aldana.
Earlier, Britain’s Mick Parkin lasted less than four minutes in the octagon as he was knocked out by a knee from Johnny Walker on the Brazilian’s heavyweight debut.
Britain’s Callum Connor was given a UFC contract despite losing in Dana White’s Contender Series, but Norbert Novenyi Jr missed out despite winning.
Six fighters from Tuesday’s five fights earned contracts in MMA’s leading promotion – four of the winners plus two losers, including 26-year-old Connor.
Peru’s Piero Guaylupo earned a unanimous decision over lightweight rival Connor, who suffered the first professional loss of his career.
UFC president White said it could be a fight of the year contender because it contained more significant strikes than any UFC lightweight three-round bout.
“Both of these guys are in the hospital right now, as they should be,” said White.
“One of the greatest fights you’ll ever see on Tuesdays or Saturdays or any other day.
“For Piero to be 21 years old and fight the way he did, the fight was incredible. But it takes two guys to make a great fight. I’m taking them both.”
Connor, from Manchester, now has a pro record of 8-1 and has a four-fight win streak on UK promotion Full Contact Contender.
Middleweight Novenyi, who was born in Hungary but fights out of London, earned a unanimous decision over American Theo Haig to improve his pro record to 11-1.
But the 26-year-old was the only fighter who won on Tuesday not to be given a contract. He was told by White that “tonight’s not your night, my friend”.
“Norbert, both of you guys have great records,” White said. “You came in, fought a good fight.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t see anything tonight that makes me say, ‘I got to have this guy in the UFC’.
“Whatever you decide to do here, we would like to take another look at you.”
Alexandre Pantoja did not tap Joshua Van’s glove before the fight began. Nine months after an injury ended his reign as flyweight champion in just 26 seconds, the Brazilian returned to the Octagon to try to reclaim the belt that slipped away.
This time, no injury clouded the result. Pantoja came out determined to impose his style from the opening seconds, but Van found a way to keep him at a distance, counter with his boxing and survive the former champion’s take-down attempts.
After five rounds, the judges awarded the fight to the Van by unanimous decision, with scores of 49-46, 49-47 and 50-45.
Van retained the 125-pound title in the main event of UFC 331, held Saturday at Crypto.com Arena in front of a sold-out crowd of 19,357 fans. UFC CEO Dana White said the event generated $8.3 million in box office revenue, the highest in the arena’s history.
The result also vindicated Van’s claim to the championship.
In December 2025, Pantoja threw a high kick that Van caught. The Brazilian lost his balance and braced his left arm on the canvas to break his fall, but his elbow dislocated. The fight ended after 26 seconds and Van was awarded the belt.
Joshua Van punches Alexandre Pantoja during their UFC 331 flyweight championship bout at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.
(Luke Hales / Getty Images)
Both fighters had much to gain during their return to the Octagon.
The animosity that had built up was evident from the start. As the fight began, Pantoja went straight for Van. The Brazilian scored an early takedown and sought to keep the champion on the mat, attempting to turn the fight into a grappling and ground-and-pound battle.
Van resisted and managed to get back to his feet. The lack of action during some early stretches prompted the first boos from the crowd.
But the pace changed.
Van began to find openings with his hands and Pantoja had to absorb strikes while continuing to seek takedowns. The champion also showed better defense against the Brazilian’s advances as the rounds progressed.
In the second round, the fight had to be briefly stopped after Pantoja claimed a headbutt. The strike was reviewed and determined to have been accidental, so the fight continued.
“I don’t even know why he was getting worked up. He came at me throwing punches, and I was just trying to counter, and he simply hit me in the head,” Van said. “I guess … I have a tougher head. So then he started complaining and all that. He was saying, ‘You headbutted me, you’re cheating.’ And I told him, ‘You hit me!’ So… um … that was it.”
Van began to take greater control of the fight during the second and third rounds. His boxing allowed him to keep Pantoja at a distance and respond when the Brazilian tried to close in to take him down. Pantoja kept pressing, but he could no longer control the fight on the ground for extended periods.
The fourth round allowed the former champion to regain some of the control he’d lost. Pantoja managed to take Van down to the canvas again and worked from the top for much of the round, showing that he could still trouble the champion when he managed to impose his style.
Van, however, ended the fight on a high note.
“I knew I hurt him — you know, I knew I hurt him,” Van said. “He’s a mental giant, you know. He just didn’t want to go down. He doesn’t want to show that he’s hurt, but I know deep down he was hurt. But like I said, man, that’s why I respect him so much.”
In the fifth round, the champion landed a powerful right-hand punch that knocked Pantoja down. The Brazilian managed to recover and continue until the end, but the blow ultimately tipped the fight in Van’s favor.
Alexandre Pantoja tries to pin Joshua Van on the ground during their UFC 331 flyweight championship bout at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.
(Luke Hales / Getty Images)
Ahead of the bout, Van defended his title in May against Tatsuro Taira, winning by technical knockout in the fifth round. Pantoja, on the other hand, hadn’t competed since his elbow injury against Van.
“There’s nothing to prove, man,” Van said. “Like I said, I knew I was going to win the first fight, too. So it’s like: ‘OK, do you guys want to see me win again?’”
Before the fight, tensions between the two had escalated. Van had insisted that his first victory wasn’t solely due to Pantoja’s injury, while the Brazilian argued that the December result didn’t show who was truly the better fighter.
The answer, this time, came after 25 minutes.
Tsarukyan knocks out Ruffy
Arman Tsarukyan celebrates after earning a knockout win over Mauricio Ruffy during his UFC 331 lightweight bout at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.
(Luke Hales / Getty Images)
The co-main event of the night also ended sooner than expected.
Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy arrived at Crypto.com Arena with a five-round bout scheduled and key positions in the lightweight division on the line. Ruffy accepted the fight with just four weeks of preparation after Charles Oliveira was pulled from the card.
Ruffy came out ready to trade blows and showed speed in the opening minutes. Tsarukyan, as he had done for much of his career, sought to use his wrestling skills to change the pace of the fight.
Tsarukyan managed to drive Ruffy against the cage and began landing elbows. At the 4:56 mark of the first round, Tsarukyan landed two elbows that knocked Ruffy out and forced the referee to stop the fight.
“I came to Los Angeles to enjoy the city,” Tsarukyan said. “But I also came to win. I owe those elbows to one of my coaches who taught me how to use them.”
Joshua Van earned a unanimous decision (49-46, 49-47, 50-45) win over his Brazilian opponent to cement his reign.
Published On 20 Sep 202620 Sep 2026
Joshua Van put on a striking masterclass to secure a unanimous-decision win over Alexandre Pantoja and retain his flyweight title in UFC 331 in Los Angeles, as the 24-year-old from Myanmar settled the score with the former champion after their first fight ended with a freak injury.
Undisputed flyweight champion Van cemented his reign atop the 125-pound (56.7kg) division, defeating the Brazilian via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-47, 50-45) in the main event on Saturday night.
Pantoja had suffered an accidental elbow dislocation 26 seconds into their first fight in December last year, resulting in Van becoming the UFC flyweight champion without an outright win over the Brazilian, who had reigned over the division for at least two years.
Van, the first UFC champion from Myanmar, defended the belt against Tatsuro Taira in May but was left waiting to seal his status as the best in the division as 36-year-old Pantoja recovered from the injury.
“A lot of people said that was an accidental win … well, doubt me now,” Joshua said after his second title defence, which extended his professional MMA record to 18 wins and two losses.
Pantoja took Van down in the first round before landing heavy punches and knees in a fiery exchange, as Van retaliated with a slicing elbow.
“You’re too good to brawl with this guy,” Van’s coaches told him during the break, suggesting a more tactical approach.
Joshua Van punches Alexandre Pantoja in their flyweight championship bout [Luke Hales/Getty Images via AFP]
Van peppered Pantoja with left-handed jabs in the second round and rocked the Brazilian with a fluid combination of punches in the third. Pantoja controlled the fourth round as he took Van down but was unable to submit him.
In the final round, Van stalked Pantoja and knocked him down with an overhand right, securing the win on the judges’ scorecards.
In the co-main event, Armenian contender Arman Tsarukyan staked his claim for a shot at the lightweight title when he pinned Mauricio Ruffy to the cage, rocked him with a left elbow and knocked him out with a right elbow with four seconds to spare in the first round.
“I knew my time would come, so I was patient,” said Tsarukyan, who extended his win streak to six fights, as he called for a bout with champion Justin Gaethje.
In featherweight action, former four-time, two-division Bellator champion Patricio Pitbull (38-9 MMA) earned his first UFC stoppage win, dismantling South Korea’s Dooho Choi via total knockout (TKO) within three minutes and 28 seconds of the opening round.
Brazil’s Pitbull overwhelmed Choi with sharp volume striking before landing a devastating right hand that forced the referee to step in and stop the contest. Pitbull snapped a three-fight finishing streak for Choi, a promotional mainstay who has competed under the UFC banner since 2014.
In the heavyweight division, Sean Sharaf pulled off one of the year’s most stunning upsets, needing just 12 seconds to shock Gable Steveson with a first-round TKO.
Steveson entered the Octagon as a massive betting favourite, but Sharaf caught him immediately in the opening exchange, unleashing a blistering flurry of strikes that forced a lightning-fast stoppage. The 12-second finish marked the third-fastest knockout in UFC heavyweight history.
A visibly frustrated Steveson refused to remain inside the Octagon as Sharaf had his hand officially raised, while Sharaf celebrated the landmark victory in front of an electric crowd.
Joshua Van retained his flyweight title with a commanding win over Alexandre Pantoja in their rematch at UFC 331 in Los Angeles.
The 24-year-old from Myanmar beat Brazilian Pantoja in December 2025 after Pantoja suffered an accidental elbow dislocation 26 seconds into the fight.
Van, the first UFC champion born in the 2000s, defended the belt against Tatsuro Taira in May but can now claim to be the best in the division after soundly beating 36-year-old Pantoja again.
“A lot of people said that was an accidental win, well, doubt me now,” Van said after extending his professional MMA record to 18 wins and two losses.
Pantoja took Van down in the first round, before landing heavy punches and knees in a fiery exchange, as Van retaliated with a slicing elbow.
Van, who moved to the United States when he was 12, then peppered Pantoja with left-handed jabs in the second round, and rocked the Brazilian with a fluid combination of punches in the third.
Pantoja controlled the fourth round as he took Van down but was unable to submit him.
In the final round, Van stalked Pantoja and knocked him down with an overhand right, securing the win in the judges’ scorecards.
Scottish fighter Casey O’Neill also won on the night, beating Eduarda Moura with an armbar submission.
UFC returns to Crypto.com Arena for the first time in eight years, and it does so with a card packed with big names and fighters looking to make the most of their opportunity to compete on the biggest stage in mixed martial arts.
Saturday’s main event will feature the flyweight title rematch between Joshua Van (17-2) and Alexandre Pantoja (30-6), a matchup that has been highly anticipated ever since their first bout ended prematurely. In December 2025, the two fighters faced off for the first time, but the bout ended after just 26 seconds when the Brazilian landed awkwardly after being sent to the canvas and suffered a serious arm injury, prompting the referee to stop the fight via technical knockout and crown Van the champion.
That victory made the Myanmar native a champion questioned by some, but Van legitimized his reign by prevailing in a grueling battle against Tatsuro Taira last May, stopping his challenger in the final round. For his part, Pantoja has not fought since that bout against Van, in which he suffered a dislocated arm.
In the co-main event, lightweight fighters Arman Tsarukyan (23-3) and Mauricio Ruffy (14-2) will face off in a bout that promises to define the division’s standings. Tsarukyan, from Georgia, has five straight wins, over Dan Hooker, Charles Oliveira, Beneil Dariush, Joaquim Silva, and Damir Ismagulov. Ruffy, from Brazil, has two consecutive victories in his most recent bouts, though he has won nine of his last 10 fights.
The card also features exciting preliminary bouts, including a matchup between Marlon Vera (23-12), who has been training in Southern California for years, and Canadian Charles Jourdain (18-1-1).
The main event at Crypto.com Arena starts at 6 p.m. PDT and will be broadcast on Paramount+. The preliminary bouts begin at 2:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on UFC Fight Pass and Paramount+.
The lineup includes a last-minute change. Brian Ortega was scheduled to fight on home turf, but due to an injury, his lightweight bout against Renato Moicano was removed from the card. As a result, Moicano will now face No. 11-ranked contender Tom Nolan in the main event of UFC Fight Night, which will take place on Oct. 31 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
The last time UFC held an event at Crypto.com Arena was on Aug. 4, 2018, when T.J. Dillashaw defeated Cody Garbrandt by first-round knockout to win the bantamweight title at UFC 227.
Here is the full fight card:
Main card (Paramount +, 6 p.m.):
Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja, por el título de peso mosca
Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio Ruffy
Patricio Pitbull vs. Dooho Choi
Alonzo Menifield vs. Iwo Baraniewski
Gable Steveson vs. Sean Sharaf
Preliminary Card (Paramount+ and UFC Fight Pass, 2:30 p.m.):
Alexandre Pantoja and Joshua Van hope their fight Saturday at Crypto.com Arena will last longer than 26 seconds.
It has been nine months since their first bout, which ended in less than a minute because of a Pantoja injury and made Van the UFC flyweight champion. Pantoja aims to reclaim the belt he lost at UFC 331, with the main event beginning at 6 p.m. and streaming on Paramount+.
Pantoja dislocated his elbow when he fell while trying to defend against one of Van’s moves on Dec. 6 at UFC 323 in Las Vegas. The fight ended immediately.
Van celebrated winning the 125-pound title, but both fighters walked away from that night feeling everyone deserved more than the premature result.
Alexandre Pantoja holds his arm after losing his flyweight title fight on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas.
(Ian Maule / Getty Images)
Pantoja, of Brazil, has not competed since that night. He has spent most of the past nine months recovering from the injury, while Van successfully defended his title once against Tatsuro Taira in May, winning by stoppage in the final round.
“It’s been [nine] long months,” Pantoja said. “I’ve been working hard. And at a certain point, I think that after two years as champion, five title fights — almost six title fights — at a certain point it’s good to take some time off, enjoy my family, enjoy myself. But at the same time, I’m really hungry to win again.”
Pantoja said he returned to the gym two days after that first fight. Although the injury kept him out of the octagon, he didn’t want to stay away from training for too long because he said that would have made it harder to get back to fighting at the championship level.
During his time out of the octagon, he observed how the division changed.
“I see a lot of good fights. We’re seeing the top 10 change almost completely,” Pantoja said Wednesday. “I see incredible fights in the flyweight division. And I think this Saturday, with my fight against Joshua Van in the main event here in Los Angeles, is very special.”
Van, meanwhile, enters the rematch coming off a five-round championship bout.
“I’ve been working on my ground game, and you’ll see it,” said Van, who holds dual American and Myanmar citizenship. “I tried it in the fight against Taira, but I didn’t quite pull it off. But this time, you’ll see a different level from Joshua Van.”
The champion’s confidence remains undiminished, as he sees the rematch as an opportunity to put any debate surrounding that first fight in 2025 to rest and prove his place in the division.
“When I beat him, I’ll be one of the greats in this division, and then the next challenger will come and try to take the belt from me,” Van said.
Pantoja said Van has changed since December, highlighting the fight against Taira and noting the champion has refined aspects of his fighting style.
Joshua Van celebrates after defeating Alexandre Pantoja in a flyweight title bout during UFC 323 on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas.
(Ian Maule / Getty Images)
“I think Van definitely evolved a lot after our fight,” Pantoja said. “He had the fight against Tatsuro Taira; I think he evolved and corrected some mistakes he made in that fight. So I think it’s going to be completely different.”
Pantoja doesn’t consider himself the same fighter who will face Van.
“The drive is always the same,” Pantoja said. “I’ve had the same drive since I was a kid — I’ve always wanted to fight the best fighters in the world. The drive is the same; it’s just that I think I’m much more mature now.”
Pantoja said Van is a top-tier fighter, but he believes the injury prevented both of them from showing everything they were capable of.
“He’s an incredible fighter,” said Pantoja, 36. “When you watch Joshua Van fight, his expression never changes — he always tries to stay in control. And that proves just how good you are.”
Although Pantoja officially lost that night, the injury changed the course of the fight before it could truly get underway.
“I injured my arm. I know that, as an athlete, I lost that fight, and now I have the opportunity to fight world champion Joshua Van — and that’s what I want. I want him at his best because I’m at my best too,” Pantoja said.
Tensions have escalated since their first encounter.
At a news conference in August in Los Angeles, the fighters got into an exchange that forced UFC president Dana White to intervene. Pantoja stood up from his seat after Van interrupted him, but the situation did not escalate into a physical confrontation.
“As far as I’m concerned, I’m his dad,” Van said. “He was being respectful before the fight, and I don’t know what he’s doing in interviews and stuff like that to make me look like the bad guy.”
Pantoja offered a different explanation.
“He does a very good job,” Pantoja said. “He needed a lesson. When I stood up, I tried to teach him a lesson. I’m from the ‘90s. Back then, if you didn’t respect your mother or father, you’d get a slap.”
Despite the disagreement, both have shown respect for their opponent’s skills. Van described Pantoja as a “very, very dangerous” fighter.
“He’s going to be motivated, he’s going to be hungrier, and I think this will be the best Pantoja we’ll see,” Van said. “So I’m very well prepared for this fight.”
Pantoja, for his part, knows he’s facing a champion who’s already had the chance to prove he can go the distance for five rounds. The Brazilian also viewed Van’s fight against Taira as a source of insight for his preparation.
“An incredible fight, very good,” Pantoja said of his 24-year-old opponent. “I think it’s a good fight for all the fans. It showed me something, but I know Joshua Van is very young and can fix a lot of things from that fight.”
For the Brazilian, the goal this weekend is clear.
“At the end of the day, what matters is the victory,” said Pantoja. “However it plays out — whether it’s by decision, split decision, KO or submission — I think the closer we get to the fight, the less those things matter. The closer we get to the fight, the championship doesn’t matter anymore, the money doesn’t matter — all that really matters is the win.”
Van doesn’t expect to let the fight go to the scorecards.
“I don’t think it’ll go five rounds; I’ll finish it within the first three rounds,” he said confidently. “It’ll be by knockout or submission, but I’m leaning more toward a knockout.”
If Pantoja regains the championship, he would become only the third flyweight champion in UFC history to reclaim the belt after losing it, joining Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno.
For the Brazilian, returning to Los Angeles also holds personal significance. He recalled that it was the first city he visited when he arrived in the United States in 2014 and that, back then, he slept in a gym.
Now he’ll return as a title challenger in the main event of UFC 331.
“It’s so nice that people see where I started here and see how far I’ve come,” Pantoja recalled. “For me, the best part is being the same guy I was when I arrived here in 2014; I’m the same guy right now, and I’m very happy and proud of myself.”
Britain’s Tom Aspinall has vacated his UFC heavyweight title because of complications in his recovery from an eye injury, but says he has no plans to retire.
The 33-year-old has not fought since October 2025, when the first defence of his title against Ciryl Gane ended in a no-contest following several eye pokes.
Aspinall was diagnosed with a rare eye condition, and has had persistent double vision and several operations.
“I am absolutely gutted. I have chased this dream since I was 10 years old,” he said in a statement.
“I know what it’s like to have your career put on hold and I want the other fighters to have the opportunity to compete for the title.”
In June Aspinall said he had returned to full training for a rematch with France’s Gane and suggested they could fight in September.
In August Aspinall rejected reports that he would leave the UFC.
“I am not done. Stepping away from the title is not stepping away from the sport or the dream,” he said on Monday.
“I will continue doing everything I can to get healthy, get cleared and get back to competing as soon as possible.”
UFC president Dana White hinted over the weekend that Aspinall could be stripped of the title.
This month Valentina Shevchenko vacated the women’s flyweight title because of persistent injuries.
Initially, it seemed Campbell’s time in the gym would serve the sole purpose of learning self-defence before moving to secondary school a couple of years later.
That was until he started competing in amateur competitions, slowly but surely becoming obsessed with his newfound escape from the difficulties he faced at school.
“I was quite a soft kid, in the sense that I didn’t really like the violence or the fighting,” Campbell said.
“I felt like when I did fight, and when I really did go into it, everything changed and I never looked back.”
Aged 15, he won his first international Muay Thai title and started to realise that, with the blessing of his parents, combat sports could become more than just a pastime.
“I was never the cleverest kid. I was always in the bottom sets at school, so I wasn’t really focused,” Campbell said.
“All of the teachers told me, ‘you need to do something else. You have to have a plan B.'”
But for Campbell, who was beginning to attract attention across Merseyside, his unwavering commitment to the sport meant there was no need for a back-up plan.
That included regularly running almost five miles to and from school. There was even one occasion when he missed school while studying for his GCSEs to attend a coaching seminar in Liverpool hosted by John Kavanagh – the coach of former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor.
After completing his GCSE exams at the age of 16, Campbell enrolled on a college course that combined studying for a qualification in sport with playing football.
Or at least that was what he was supposed to be doing.
Campbell struck an arrangement with the course leads that allowed him to attend classes before leaving to train in combat sports, while his peers were on the football pitch.
“I was always avoiding anything just for fighting,” Campbell said.
“I really didn’t like school. It wasn’t me. But I made a good few mates there, so you’ve got to take the pros with the cons.”
