It’s “numbered event” time once again in the UFC, with UFC 331 going down this Saturday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. A championship rematch headlines the card, with a potential #1 contender fight in the co-main event slot. For my MMA Main Card Pick of the Week: UFC 331, I’ve got your winner for Saturday’s championship main event. Let’s go!
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MMA Main Card Pick of the Week: UFC 331
UFC 331: Van vs Pantoja 2
Main Card Start Time: 9:00 PM EST
I’m not a fan of rematches in MMA, especially immediate ones (which is the case for one of Saturday’s main event participants). To quote Jim Cornette, it’s “lazy booking”. But in the case of Joshua Van vs Alexandre Pantoja for the UFC Flyweight Championship, the rematch is warranted and makes sense.
Van usurped the long-time champ Pantoja at UFC 323 when the Brazilian injured his arm 26 seconds into the fight after being thrown down by Van. So Van needs to show critics it wasn’t a fluke, and Pantoja deserves to get another shot at reacquiring gold. But I don’t think he’ll be successful.
Backing a 36-year-old flyweight, with lots of wear on the tires, coming off almost a year on the sidelines due to an injury isn’t a wise bet to make. I’ll go with the 24-year-old current champ, who has no ring rust to knock off, will be quicker and more athletic, and is extremely dangerous inside the cage.
UFC 331 Main Card Pick: Joshua Van ML (-120)
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