UFC Come back this Saturday 19 September to Crypto.com Arena of Los Angeles with UFC 331, a billboard that mixes a rematch for the championship, a decisive fight in lightweight and several names that can change their position within the company in one night.
The main event will again face Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight belt.
And this time there's an outstanding account.
Van won the championship against the Brazilian in UFC 323, But that fight ended almost before it started after Pantoja suffered an injury to his arm. The result was official and the belt changed hands, but there were too many questions left unanswered.
Van has already shown later that his position does not depend solely on that accident. He defended the championship against Tatsuro Taira and now he meets again the man who dominated the category for more than two years.
Pantoja, for his part, comes before an unusual opportunity: to immediately recover a belt that lost without having really developed his fight.
Before that injury he had built one of the best recent reigns of flyweight, with defenses against Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, Kai Asakura and Kai Kara-France.
That's why UFC 331 should be used to resolve the discussion definitively.
Van can prove that he is already the real owner of the division. Pantoja can recover what he feels he never really lost within a normal fight.
But much of the attention will also be in combat coestelar.
Arman Tsarukyan v Mauricio Ruffy.
Five rounds in lightweight and a lot at stake.
Tsarukyan continues to be one of the most comprehensive fighters of the 155 pounds and probably one of the best wrestlers of all UFC. Your ability to change niveles, chaining down and physically controlling his rivals turns any confrontation against him into a exhausting test.
Ruffy represents the opposite.
The Brazilian is explosive, creative and much more dangerous when he can work on his feet. He has speed, power and ability to finish a fight quickly, but precisely his grappling has generated doubts after the problems faced by Benoît Saint Denis.
That's why pairing seems especially complicated for him.
Yes Ruffy gets to keep distance and punish Tsarukyan tickets, can turn the fight into a very uncomfortable night for the Armenian.
If Arman gets close and starts chaining down, Ruffy You'll have to prove that your struggle has evolved enough to survive for five rounds.
For Tsarukyan, moreover, it doesn't seem enough to win.
You need to remember UFC that remains one of the most legitimate aspirants to Justin Gaethje's belt.
Patricio Pitbull will also have a major fight in front of Doo Ho Choi.
The Brazilian came to UFC after building a historic career outside the company, but his landing on the octagon has forced to measure his level against a new generation and at an advanced stage of his career.
Choi continues to be one of the most beloved fighters for his way of competing striking aggressive and their willingness to exchange make the fight an interesting test for Pitbull.
Another major attraction will be Gable Steveson.
The Olympic champion of struggle faces his next step within UFC against Sean Sharaf and continues to be one of the most particular projects that has had the division of heavyweights in a long time.
Their wrestling is out of the question.
The unknown is in everything else.
Each Steveson fight serves to check how one of the best fighting bases in the world adapts to a sport where it also has to manage blows, submission, distance and cardio.
Alonzo Menifield and Iwo Baraniewski will complete the main billboard in a semiheavy duel where the power should be present from the first minute.
UFC 331 has lost, yes, one of the most attractive fights I had initially.
Brian Ortega was supposed to meet Renato Moicano again, but a court suffered during the preparation has left T-City out of the event. The fight has been withdrawn from the billboard and Moicano will continue his camp to compete later.
It is a significant downfall, especially because Ortega and Moicano had a history pending since their first confrontation.
The preliminaries maintain quite interest.
Marlon "Chito" Vera will try to recover land in front of Charles Jourdain. For the Ecuadorian it is an important fight after a complicated stage: it continues to have name and experience, but needs to relink victories to avoid definitively getting away from the high area of the bantamweight.
We'll have a fight in the heaviest way that promises little speculation.
Tai Tuivasa v. Robelis Despaigne.
Two men with enormous power and a clear preference to resolve standing battles. Tuivasa needs to slow down a negative dynamic, while Despaigne continues to try to transfer his extraordinary physical conditions to the elite of UFC.
Michael Aswell Jr. will face JooSang Yoo and Ryan G.A. will do the same in front of Ozzy Dadamy.
The first part of the event will also have recognizable names.
Edmen Shahbazyan will be measured with Brunno Ferreira in a middleweight fight with quite a capacity for completion.
Casey O'Neill and Eduarda Moura will star in a major duel within the female flyweight, while Giga Chikadze will face Joanderson Brito in a match where Georgian will try to keep the fight away from Brazilian pressure and power.
UFC 331 therefore, without having to depend exclusively on his championship.
Van-Pantoja has to solve a story that was incomplete.
Tsarukyan-Ruffy can immediately modify the race by the lightweight belt.
Steveson continues to be one of the most interesting heavyweight sports experiments.
And names like Pitbull, Chito Vera, Tuivasa or Chikadze arrive with quite a need to win.
But probably the fight that most questions can answer is the coestelar.
Ruffy has exactly the style that generates the most doubts around his candidacy for the elite.
Tsarukyan has in front of him exactly the type of rival he needs to dominate to remember why he has been claiming a chance for the belt so long.
Five rounds should leave little excuses.
And after UFC 331, Lightweight can be much clearer who should approach Justin Gaethje.