UFC 331 Full Card, Date, Time and HYPE Score: How Good Is It?
UFC 331 has more going for it than just a championship main event.
Joshua Van defends the flyweight title against former champion Alexandre Pantoja in a rematch of their unusual 26-second first meeting. Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy get five rounds in a lightweight fight with obvious title implications. Olympic wrestling champion Gable Steveson makes his second UFC appearance, Patricio Pitbull faces Dooho Choi, and the undercard is loaded with fighters who historically finish fights.
Brian Mazique’s F.I.G.H.T. System™ gives UFC 331 a HYPE Score of 84.2 out of 100, which lands in the Must-See range.
The card takes place Saturday, Sept. 19, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. UFC’s current event page lists the early prelims at 5:30 p.m. ET, the prelims at 7 p.m. ET and the main card at 9 p.m. ET, with the U.S. broadcast on Paramount+.
The HYPE Meter is part of the F.I.G.H.T. System™, a collection of custom MMA analytics created by Brian Mazique to evaluate fights and UFC events beyond traditional statistics.
Athlon’s full F.I.G.H.T. System explainer details how the metric works.
UFC 331: Date, Time and How to Watch
Detail | Info |
|---|---|
Event | UFC 331: Van vs. Pantoja 2 |
Date | Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026 |
Venue | Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles |
Main Event | Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja 2 — Flyweight title |
Co-Main Event | Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio Ruffy — Lightweight, 5 rounds |
Early Prelims | 5:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. PT |
Prelims | 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT |
Main Card | 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT |
Streaming | Paramount+ in the U.S. |
Total Fights | 12 |
HYPE Score | 84.2 — Must-See |
UFC is returning to Crypto.com Arena for the first time in eight years.
UFC 331 HYPE Score: 84.2 Out of 100
Each HYPE category is scored from 1–100, multiplied by its weight, then added together.
Category | Score | Weight | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
Star Power | 82 | 25% | 20.50 |
Rankings & Championship Fights | 86 | 20% | 17.20 |
Storyline Heat | 92 | 15% | 13.80 |
KO / Finish Rate | 79.9 | 15% | 11.99 |
Fan Heat / Market Buzz | 79 | 15% | 11.85 |
Location | 89 | 10% | 8.90 |
HYPE Score | 84.2 |
That puts UFC 331 comfortably above the 73.1 HYPE Score Noche UFC received under the same system.
Storyline Heat Leads the Card: 92
The strongest category is Storyline Heat.
Van and Pantoja are running back a championship fight that barely started the first time. Van won the belt when Pantoja suffered an arm injury just 26 seconds into their UFC 323 meeting. Van has since successfully defended the title against Tatsuro Taira, while Pantoja returns trying to reclaim the championship he previously defended four times.
There is also real importance in the co-main event.
No. 2-ranked Tsarukyan is on a five-fight winning streak and faces No. 7 Ruffy, who is coming off a knockout of Michael Chandler. The UFC has positioned the five-round matchup as a major fight in the lightweight title picture.
Then there is Steveson.
The former Olympic and NCAA wrestling champion is 4-0 in MMA with four first-round knockouts. His UFC profile lists a 100% professional finishing rate entering his heavyweight fight with Sean Sharaf.
The supporting card adds more separate stories: Pitbull trying to hold his place in the featherweight rankings against a surging Choi, Marlon Vera trying to stop a four-fight skid against Charles Jourdain, and unbeaten Iwo Baraniewski testing his 9-0 record against ranked light heavyweight Alonzo Menifield.
The card did lose Brian Ortega vs. Renato Moicano after Ortega withdrew because of injury, which keeps the Storyline score from climbing even higher. UFC officially removed the matchup earlier this week.
Athlon also covered the Brian Ortega injury and subsequent UFC 331 card change.
The Historical Finish Rate Is 79.9%
This may be the card’s sneakiest strength.
The HYPE Meter’s KO / Finish Rate calculation divides each fighter’s career stoppage victories by total career victories, then averages the percentages across the entire card.
For UFC 331, the 24 fighters combine for an average career finish rate of approximately 79.9%.
Several fighters are doing heavy lifting.
Fighter | Finishes / Wins | Finish Rate |
|---|---|---|
Gable Steveson | 4 of 4 | 100% |
Sean Sharaf | 4 of 4 | 100% |
Iwo Baraniewski | 9 of 9 | 100% |
Robelis Despaigne | 6 of 6 | 100% |
Tai Tuivasa | 14 of 15 | 93.3% |
Brunno Ferreira | 14 of 15 | 93.3% |
Mauricio Ruffy | 13 of 14 | 92.9% |
Ozzy Diaz | 9 of 10 | 90% |
UFC fighter records support those numbers. Baraniewski has finished all nine of his professional wins, including seven by knockout, while Ruffy has 13 knockouts in 14 victories. Tuivasa has knocked out 14 of the 15 opponents he has beaten, and Despaigne’s six professional wins have all come by knockout.
Even further down the card, Edmen Shahbazyan owns 14 finishes in 16 victories, Brunno Ferreira has 14 in 15, and Joanderson Brito has stopped 16 of the 19 opponents he has beaten.
That is an unusually high historical finishing profile for a 12-fight card.
Rankings and Championship Stakes Score 86
UFC 331 has one championship fight, but the divisional stakes extend well beyond the main event.
Van is the flyweight champion and Pantoja is ranked No. 1. Tsarukyan is No. 2 at lightweight and Ruffy is No. 7. Pitbull is No. 15 at featherweight. Menifield is No. 14 at light heavyweight, Vera is No. 10 at bantamweight, and Casey O’Neill and Eduarda Moura are ranked No. 12 and No. 13, respectively, at women’s flyweight.
That gives the event a champion plus eight currently ranked fighters.
It does not score like a two- or three-title-fight mega card, but the five-round Tsarukyan-Ruffy fight makes the top of the lineup more consequential than a normal single-title event.
Athlon has also covered the unresolved Ilia Topuria lightweight title picture, which adds context to the importance of Tsarukyan-Ruffy.
Star Power Scores 82
This card has recognizable names throughout the lineup, but it lacks the kind of global crossover draw that would push Star Power into the 90s.
Pantoja is a former champion with four successful title defenses. Van is the current champion and one of the youngest titleholders in UFC history. Tsarukyan has spent years near the top of the lightweight division. Pitbull arrives with a decorated championship résumé outside the UFC, while Vera and Tuivasa have established fan followings.
Steveson is the wild card.
His combat-sports résumé includes an Olympic gold medal and two NCAA Division I wrestling championships, giving the card a name with recognition well beyond the normal prospect level.
That collection gives UFC 331 depth in this category even without one overwhelming superstar at the top.
Fan Heat Is 79 — For Now
Fan Heat is the most fluid HYPE category, so 79 is provisional.
The UFC has produced a full Embedded series during fight week, scheduled a public press conference Thursday and has public ceremonial weigh-ins Friday at Crypto.com Arena.
The title rematch, Steveson’s presence and the Tsarukyan-Ruffy matchup are generating several independent sources of interest.
There is also an extra fight-night hook: Dana White announced a special $50,000 “Proper Chaos” bonus for one UFC 331 fighter. Athlon previously explained how the UFC 331 Proper Chaos bonus works.
At the same time, UFC’s official event page still lists tickets as available, and the card does not have the crossover attention attached to the promotion’s biggest annual events. That keeps the score below elite territory for now.
Los Angeles Pushes the Location Score to 89
Crypto.com Arena gives UFC 331 a considerably stronger setting than an Apex event or an ordinary regional arena.
Los Angeles is one of the largest sports and entertainment markets in the world, and UFC notes that Saturday marks the promotion’s first return to Crypto.com Arena in eight years.
The building, formerly known as Staples Center, has hosted major UFC cards before and carries much more event prestige than a stripped-down studio setting.
That is enough for an 89 Location score.
UFC 331 Full Card
Main Card — 9 p.m. ET on Paramount+
- Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja — Flyweight championship
- Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio Ruffy — Lightweight, five rounds
- Patricio Pitbull vs. Dooho Choi — Featherweight
- Gable Steveson vs. Sean Sharaf — Heavyweight
- Alonzo Menifield vs. Iwo Baraniewski — Light heavyweight
Prelims — 7 p.m. ET on Paramount+
- Marlon Vera vs. Charles Jourdain — Bantamweight
- Tai Tuivasa vs. Robelis Despaigne — Heavyweight
- Michael Aswell Jr. vs. JooSang Yoo — Featherweight
- Ryan Gandra vs. Ozzy Diaz — Middleweight
Early Prelims — 5:30 p.m. ET on Paramount+ and UFC Fight Pass
- Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Brunno Ferreira — Middleweight
- Casey O’Neill vs. Eduarda Moura — Women’s flyweight
- Giga Chikadze vs. Joanderson Brito — Featherweight
That is the lineup currently displayed on UFC’s official event page.
Athlon’s complete UFC schedule tracks UFC 331 and the remaining events on the 2026 calendar.
So, How Good Is UFC 331?
An 84.2 HYPE Score says this is a Must-See card.
It is not being carried by one enormous mainstream star. Instead, UFC 331 scores well almost everywhere: championship stakes, a genuine title-rematch story, two five-round fights, multiple ranked matchups, a decorated Olympic champion, a major-arena setting and a card-wide historical finish rate just under 80%.
That balance is what pushes the event above the 80-point line.
The biggest weakness is simple: UFC 331 has only one championship fight and no true megastar headliner.
Almost everything else grades well.
F.I.G.H.T. System™ HYPE Meter Scale
Score | Hype Level |
|---|---|
90–100 | Mega Event |
80–89 | Must-See |
70–79 | Highly Anticipated |
60–69 | Strong Card |
50–59 | Solid Interest |
40–49 | Moderate Hype |
30–39 | Low Hype |
20–29 | Under the Radar |
1–19 | Minimal Buzz |
The complete methodology for HYPE, Fight Score, PECS, PPR, DVR and DLR is available in Brian Mazique’s F.I.G.H.T. System glossary.
More MMA News
- UFC 331 — Alonzo Menifield vs. Iwo Baraniewski: Ranked Puncher vs. 9-0 Finisher — What Does AI Predict?
- Gable Steveson vs. Sean Sharaf: Olympic Wrestling vs. Heavyweight Power — What Does AI Predict?
- UFC 331 — Charles Jourdain vs. Marlon Vera: Three-Fight Streak Meets Ranked Veteran — What Does AI Predict?
- Sean Sharaf Calls Gable Steveson ‘Rapist’ and ‘Loophole’ at UFC 331 Press Conference
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Sep 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the MMA section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.