UFC 331 Stats Breakdown: How Joshua Van Beat Pantoja
Official UFCStats breakdown of UFC 331, covering Joshua Van vs Alexandre Pantoja 2, Sean Sharaf's 12-second knockout, and full card analytics.
A combat sports projection model can digest thousands of historical rounds, calculate takedown defense rates down to three decimal places, and simulate twenty-five minutes of tactical warfare. Then an Olympic wrestling champion steps into the cage and gets knocked unconscious twelve seconds into the opening round.
That is the merciless beauty of mixed martial arts. On September 19, 2026, UFC 331 delivered a masterclass in pure variance. While casual fans were busy arguing over hype, the raw metrics logged on official scorecards revealed how technical adjustments and puncher chance routinely shatter consensus predictions.
Across twelve official bouts recorded on UFCStats, the night featured title changes, brutal first-round submissions, and statistical anomalies that tested every analytical framework we maintain at BoutPredict.
The Championship Headliners
Pantoja secured five takedowns over twenty-five minutes, but Van's blistering boxing volume took over the fight. Van landed 181 significant strikes compared to Pantoja's 147, stuffing late entries and punishing the champion in open space to capture the flyweight title across all three scorecards.
In a calculated battle of patience, Tsarukyan needed only eight significant strikes to get the job done. With four seconds left in the opening round, Tsarukyan secured a reactive takedown and drove a vicious short elbow to Ruffy's temple, ending the contest with a buzzer-beater stoppage.
Main Card Fireworks & Shock Finishes
Patricio Pitbull def. Dooho Choi via TKO (Punches)
Featherweight • R1 3:28Official Stats: Strikes 38-20 • Takedowns 0-0 • Knockdowns 1-0
Pitbull demonstrated pure veteran timing in the pocket, out-striking Choi 38 to 20 before dropping him with a clean counter right hand. Pitbull's follow-up ground strikes forced the referee to wave off the contest midway through round one.
Sean Sharaf def. Gable Steveson via KO (Punch)
Heavyweight • R1 0:12Official Stats: Strikes 3-1 • Takedowns 0-0 • Time 0:12
The biggest shock of the night took only twelve seconds. Olympic gold medalist Steveson rushed forward without setting up his level change, running straight into a thudding overhand right from Sharaf that collapsed the wrestling prodigy instantly on the canvas.
Alonzo Menifield def. Iwo Baraniewski via Split Decision
Light Heavyweight • R3 5:00Official Stats: Strikes 62-67 • Takedowns 1-1 • Scorecard: Split Decision
Baraniewski technically out-landed Menifield 67 to 62 in total strikes, but Menifield's heavy forward pressure and damaging inside clinch knees convinced two of the three judges in a razor-thin split decision verdict.
Marlon Vera def. Charles Jourdain via TKO (Punch)
Bantamweight • R3 2:02Official Stats: Strikes 72-83 • Takedowns 3-0 • Finish: R3 2:02
Jourdain built an early volume advantage with 83 strikes, but Vera stayed patient, timed three takedowns, and unleashed a ferocious third-round flurry that dropped Jourdain at the 2:02 mark of the final round.
Preliminary Card Battles & Gritty Decisions
Robelis Despaigne def. Tai Tuivasa via Split Decision
Heavyweight • R3 5:00Official Stats: Strikes 30-31 • Takedowns 2-1 • Split Decision
In an extraordinarily tight heavyweight brawl where Tuivasa landed 31 strikes to Despaigne's 30, Despaigne's two completed takedowns and top control time gave him the edge on the scorecards.
Michael Aswell Jr. def. JooSang Yoo via Split Decision
Featherweight • R3 5:00Official Stats: Strikes 70-46 • Takedowns 0-1 • Split Decision
Aswell dominated the distance exchanges by out-landing Yoo 70 to 46 in significant strikes, overcoming Yoo's single takedown to take a well-earned split verdict.
Ryan Gandra def. Ozzy Diaz via TKO (Punches)
Middleweight • R1 2:04Official Stats: Strikes 16-3 • Takedowns 0-0 • Finish: R1 2:04
Gandra overwhelmed Diaz inside two minutes, landing 16 significant strikes while absorbing only 3 before dropping Diaz along the fence for an early stoppage.
Edmen Shahbazyan def. Brunno Ferreira via Unanimous Decision
Middleweight • R3 5:00Official Stats: Strikes 61-32 • Takedowns 1-0 • Unanimous Decision
Shahbazyan put on a disciplined striking performance, doubling Ferreira's output with 61 strikes to 32 and mixing in a timely takedown to sweep all three rounds.
Casey O'Neill def. Eduarda Moura via Submission (Armbar)
Women's Flyweight • R1 3:22Official Stats: Strikes 1-3 • Takedowns 0-0 • Finish: Armbar
In a rapid ground sequence, O'Neill capitalized on an overextended scramble from Moura, transitioning smoothly into an armbar that forced the tap at 3:22 of the first round.
Joanderson Brito def. Giga Chikadze via TKO (Punches)
Featherweight • R1 1:57Official Stats: Strikes 20-7 • Takedowns 0-0 • Finish: R1 1:57
Brito blitzed Chikadze from the opening horn, refusing to allow room for the Georgian's kicks. Brito out-struck Chikadze 20 to 7 and finished the bout with heavy hooks against the fence under two minutes.
Official Track Record & Model Post-Mortem
Around 2:40 AM on the night of September 19, the quiet inside our small makeshift workspace was deafening. The empty paper coffee cups had accumulated next to two glowing laptop screens, each displaying our public dashboard at BoutPredict. Our track record was 3 for 6 on UFC 331, a humbling 50 percent hit rate that felt like a splash of ice water over months of model optimization.
My cofounder, Mridul, was leaning back in his squeaking office chair, staring at the ceiling tiles while replaying the twelve-second replay of Sean Sharaf catching Gable Steveson on his phone. We had spent four days debating Steveson's freestyle wrestling efficiency and top control metrics, projecting an eighty-two percent win probability. Sharaf landed three strikes, connected with one clean punch on the temple, and rendered two hundred hours of code completely irrelevant.
"Look at the screen right here," Mridul muttered, tilting his phone toward me. "Twelve seconds. Three strikes thrown. That is why people bet on fighting and that is why machines fail. How do you train a model on an overhand right that connects before the camera operator even finds focus?"
He was right. Fighting is not chess played with inert wooden pieces. It is two human nervous systems improvising under acute physical danger. The 50 percent scoreline was humbling, but it was also the most honest result we could have asked for. In combat sports, the night you believe you have finally solved the sport is always the exact night the cage door locks and teaches you how little you truly know.