Van rehydrates to 145.8 lbs after weighing in at 125 for UFC 331 flyweight title defence

UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van tipped the scales at 145.8 pounds by fight night at UFC 331 in Los Angeles on Saturday, having weighed in at exactly 125 pounds the previous day — a rehydration gain of 20.8 pounds, or 17 percent of his weigh-in body weight.

The figures come from the California State Athletic Commission, which released official fight-night weights for all competitors on the card. His opponent, former champion Alexandre Pantoja, also came in at 125 pounds on Friday before gaining 15.2 pounds to reach 140.2 lbs by the time the pair met in the main event — a difference of 5.6 pounds in Van’s favour at the moment of the opening bell.

The rehydration gap was even more pronounced in the co-main event. Arman Tsarukyan weighed 156 pounds at Friday’s lightweight weigh-in and came in at 177 lbs on fight night, a gain of 21 pounds. His opponent Mauricio Ruffy went further, adding 23 pounds to his 155-pound weigh-in mark to compete at 178 lbs.

Elsewhere on the card, featherweight Michael Aswell posted one of the largest individual gains of the night, rehydrating 24.8 pounds from 146 lbs to 170.8 lbs — a 17 percent increase. Joanderson Brito gained 25.9 pounds to reach 171.4 lbs, while welterweight Ozzy Diaz added 26.4 pounds, the biggest absolute gain on the card, moving from 186 lbs to 212.4 lbs.

At the other end of the spectrum, heavyweight Gable Steveson gained just 1.2 pounds between weigh-in and fight night, going from 240 to 241.2 lbs, reflecting the minimal weight manipulation typically seen at the heavier end of the sport.

The release of fight-night weights by state athletic commissions has become an increasingly scrutinised data point in MMA, with large rehydration swings reigniting debate about the physical advantages fighters can gain by cutting aggressively to make a lower weight class before restoring mass overnight.