Van submits Pantoja in fifth to close UFC 331

Sharaf stopped Steveson in 12 seconds on same card

Wire Report IntelligenceUpdated Sep 221 min read

MMA

https://t.co/UG7MYaF7Zr

What happened: Joshua Van finished Alexandre Pantoja by submission at 5:00 of Round 5 at Crypto.com Arena. Sean Sharaf stopped Gable Steveson by knockout at 0:12 of Round 1. Arman Tsarukyan stopped Mauricio Ruffy by knockout at 4:56 of Round 1.

Why it matters: Van improved to 18-2-0 with the main-event finish over Pantoja. Tsarukyan improved to 24-3-0, putting him back in the lightweight title conversation.

By the numbers: Van 18-2-0; Tsarukyan 24-3-0 with R1 4:56 finish; Patricio Pitbull 38-9-0 with R1 3:28 finish over Dooho Choi; Sharaf 5-2-0 with R1 0:12 finish.

What to watch: Matchmaking for Van's next defense and Tsarukyan's next lightweight booking will set the winter title calendar.

Sources

@SeanSheehanBA Sep 21, 10:58 PM ET

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Van submits Pantoja in fifth to close UFC 331

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