UFC 331 Main Card: Previews, Picks, and Final Predictions 

UFC 331 Main Card: Previews, Picks, and Final Predictions 

The UFC, nearly ten years after Dillashaw and Garbrandt’s second showdown at 227, finally makes its first crash landing in Los Angeles since 2018. Served as the main course is a flyweight grudge match — as Joshua Van looks to prove himself past 26 seconds against division legend Alexander Pantoja in their upcoming second meeting. Prior to the highly anticipated fight is a rollout of bouts that carry HUGE implications, those that are far past just a simple win or loss for each fighter. 

Gable Stevenson vs. Sean Sharaf 

Standing opposite of a burgeoning UFC star is never a fun task, particularly if you’re a fighter largely written off and scarcely a thought in your respective division. It’s an even bigger task when the man opposite of yourself is perhaps the best pure athlete in the promotion now. Olympic gold medalist, former WWE wrestler, former Buffalo Bills defensive tackle, and Minnesota Gopher wrestling savant; Stevenson has an athletic resume fit for a cartoon character, just turned sentient.

To many, his extensive background and irrepressible skill as a wrestler make this bout an easy one to score — Stevenson will convert his wrestling to clinch control, takedowns, ground-and-pounds and positional dominance all the way to his fifth professional win. Dealing with such a fighter, the stance does not present much to disagree with. 

The one caveat, however, is that MMA extends far past 

Despite the optics, it is still a bit unfair to notion that Sean Sharaf is a sacrificial lamb for the inauguration of luminary heavyweight prospect Gable Stevenson, regardless of Stevenson’s pedigree. Not in the sense of maybe being able to stick around, but perhaps Sean Sharaf presents a better test than anyone could anticipate.

For instance, Stevenson’s debut UFC fight against Elisha Ellison saw him spark the Snack Panther in just a few short minutes of the opening bell. Ironically enough, however, it was Stevenson showing his slight amateurism in the short exchange, as Ellison landed some clean shots of his own before suffering the TKO defeat. Sharaf is certainly more durable than Ellison, showing that regardless of his losses in the promotion, he can make opening rounds competitive.

Simultaneously, this allows Sharaf to test Gable’s gas tank past the total eight minutes and twenty-four seconds of fight time that Gable has under his very short career, for we simply don’t know what the wrestler looks like under duress.

Sharaf, who stands four inches taller and holds rhe three inch-reach advantage, also has a legit striking arsenal that is quirky in cadence and robust-enough in leg kicks. Say Sharaf doesn’t go away quickly after the initial explosion and forces Stevenson to make adjustments; say Sharaf is magically dangerous in round two. While highly improbable, it’s still not impossible, and such is enough pressure to maybe bring the impossible to the fold.

Or maybe none of this matters and Stevenson lights up Sharaf in the first thirty seconds. But if he doesn’t, there’ll be a whole host of questions about the imminent golden goose at heavyweight. 

Watch with an attentive eye… 

Prediction: Stevenson by TKO, Round 1 

Alonzo Menifield vs. Iwo Baraniewski 

First off, regardless of who you pick to win, one thing is absolutely guaranteed — a picture perfect knockout. 

Regardless of the last fact, this feels more like a perfect opportunity for Iwo Baraniewski. Menifield’s long tenure does warrant some respect from the public, enough respect to even deem him savvy and tough enough to derail the youngster’s fluorescent glow. Dangerous in close exchanges, short punches, and explosive bursts, the man nicknamed “Atomic” has the understanding of how to manage a dangerous puncher.

Realistically, Menifield represents a fighter on the mend. Four whole knockouts suffered during his time in the UFC, with his defeat against Volkan Oezdemir still 10 months fresh in the UFC’s mind. 

Even as he will stand against his toughest opponent to date in Alonzo Menifield, Iwo Baraniewski’s youth, explosion, and raw power will pick his win streak into double digits and his name into the top 15. 

Prediction: Baraniewski by KO, Round 1 

Patricio Freire vs. Doo Hoo Choi 

This bout, poetically set dead center in the main card, has the most upside in terms of surprise result. 

Someone is getting hurt in this fight, and who says that it has to be the aging Brazilian with nearly fifty fights in his career? Long and rangy as ever, Doo Hoi Choi blends excellent boxing, devastating kicks, and explosive power to tantalize the fans to favor himself in this contest. He is, for good reason, the heavy favorite against the fighter soon to turn forty in the next year. But what if Choi’s front foot attack puts him in trouble against the experienced, former Bellator champion. After all, “Pitbull” is not too far removed from his days of fighting title challengers, fighting Yair Rodriguez just last year. Add in his rather durable showing against Aaron Pico, and Patricio has more of a chance than most give him. 

The lean would still be in favor for the bigger, longer, slightly younger Choi, but if the elder statesman can force a tactical fight rather than open exchanges, experience may be the x-factor. 

Prediction: Choi by Split Decision

Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio Ruffy 

While Van and Pantoja take center stage Saturday night, a more important reckoning precedes it. The other five rounder playing as an appetizer to the main event features two white hot fighters with more on the line than anyone else on the card. 

Stylistically, Mauricio Ruffy has all the goods to make this interesting. The Brazilian, who wasn’t even intended to be the opponent, is plenty dangerous on the feet, full stop. Not a simple kickboxer who just so happens to have power, but instead, Ruffy can manipulate fighters with his bag of feints, stance changes, rhythm change-ups, and awkward angles. The knockout of King Green is still VERY much fresh in everyone’s mind, and such a knockout yields Ruffy with superstardom himself, should he defeat Tsarukyan. 

But it just feels like Arman’s time. 

Arman Tsarukyan has an infraction sheet that reads all the way to Armenia. An abrasive attitude, brawls with an assortment of UFC faces, and a general air of self-importance that borders arrogance. His (legitimate) pulling out of UFC 311 against Islam Makhachev has placed in a peculiar space; an “almost” champion-like atmosphere where fans just don’t know what to do with him. While legitimately excellent, riding the high of a five fight win streak, it’s on very low miles, fighting only twice since 2024, as he metaphorically threw himself into the UFC’s doghouse.

At last, the Armenian is able to put all the shenanigans behind him and earn his shot at the title with his full arsenal serves as just too much for Ruffy. Mauricio will have his moments on the feet early on, granted; but it won’t stay there. The fast combinations, tricky angles, and elite athleticism be damned — Arman Tsarukyan has the chain wrestling, positional control, and takedown tenacity to win this fight and close a rather cumbersome chapter in his stalled UFC career. 

Prediction: Tsarukyan by Submission, Round 3 

Joshua Van vs. Alexander Pantoja II 

26 seconds. That was all we got from this flyweight GEM of a matchup the first time around. The second one WILL be a classic. 

It would be to the surprise of not a single person if Alexander Pantoja comes into the fight, and completely derails the young Burmese fighter currently riding the high of a seven fight win streak. Technically speaking, Pantoja’s injury gifted Van another notch in the win, stunning the legend who himself was on an eight fight streak of his own. Pantoja has fought and defeated opponents whose skill set surpasses Van’s. At 36 years of age and wisdom, we should not ignore the high level of fighting being displayed by the very man looking to maybe catch Demetrious Johnson in the flyweight rankings. He was good on that December night, and he’ll be good on Saturday night. 

But the ill-gotten goods will remain with Joshua Van.

His activity since receiving the belt serves paramount to why he’s the pick to retain against the flyweight stallworth. The youngster’s showing against Tatsuro Taira was emblematic of a future UFC star coming into his own. Never mind the amazing takedown defense against the Japanese’s marauder — the mental and physical attrition to place the fight where he wanted it to be left Taira in a pool of his own blood.

Now, shifting from Taira, a fighter still on the come up himself, to the second-greatest flyweight of all time in Pantoja is a daunting task that can rattle that maturity, but Van’s recent activity against younger, fresher legs may be the antidote in affirming the belt on his waist. 

Youthful speed and striking against experience grappling and physicality — that’s the fight on paper. But in-between the lines is an older fighter coming back from injury against a youthful viper who decimated a quality prospect as if he was hungry for a belt that is already his. I don’t know if at this particular juncture, Pantoja has enough. 

Prediction: Van by Split Decision