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UFC 331 Fight Night, Aspinall Vacates, RAF 13 Fallout

UFC 331 is on the horizon, and things are already heating up as Tsarukyan and Ruffy reportedly had a tense encounter ahead of their upcoming bout. Meanwhile, RAF 13 delivered lopsided wins for Covington and Chimaev, and Tom Aspinall steps away from the heavyweight title.

UFC 331 Fight Night, Aspinall Vacates, RAF 13 Fallout

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Fight week is in full swing ahead of UFC 331 in Los Angeles, while RAF 13's grappling crossover card in Miami produced statement performances. Elsewhere, a major title vacancy and a notable gym switch made headlines.

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Episode transcript

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Welcome to Open Scoring MMA. This is episode 93 for September 19th, 2026, your daily look at what's happening now and next across the world of MMA and UFC. DUKE: We are hours away from UFC three thirty one, Van versus Pantoja two, live from Crypto dot com Arena, and Sherdog's got the play by play kicking off at five thirty Eastern.
NORA: Joshua Van is reportedly defending the flyweight strap against Alexandre Pantoja in the main event, and that fight alone would carry most cards.
DUKE: But it might not even be the best fight on the poster tonight.
NORA: It's not, and I'll die on that hill.
DUKE: Let's start with Pantoja though, because his story here is wild. Man's coming back from a serious injury layoff to get back in there.
NORA: This is being framed as a real hero's journey narrative, a guy who lost something precious physically and has to rebuild his whole approach to get back to the top of the mountain.
DUKE: That's not just a headline thing either, that changes how you scout him tonight.
NORA: Right, because you don't know which Pantoja shows up, the relentless pressure guy from before, or someone still finding his legs again.
DUKE: Okay, now the co-main. Arman Tsarukyan versus Mauricio Ruffy.
NORA: This is being called the highest stakes fight on the entire card, higher than the title fight itself.
DUKE: Because it's basically a lightweight title eliminator.
NORA: Exactly, win this and Tsarukyan is knocking on the door for real.
DUKE: The odds have him at minus three forty, big favorite over Ruffy.
NORA: That's a massive number for a five round fight against a live striker like Ruffy, and it tells you the pros trust the wrestling and the physicality to just smother him.
DUKE: Ruffy's got the power to change that in one exchange though.
NORA: Sure, but live underdog power is different than live underdog game plan, and I haven't seen anyone lay out how Ruffy actually solves five rounds of that pressure.
DUKE: Fair. Now speaking of Tsarukyan, the man cannot have a normal fight week.
NORA: He's had some heated moments in the leadup.
DUKE: This isn't new for Tsarukyan, he's had issues at faceoffs before, and it's genuinely hurt how he's viewed by the promotion.
NORA: It's a pattern now, not an incident, and that matters if he's angling for title fight treatment down the line.
DUKE: And get this, he's got the streamer N3on cornering him this week.
NORA: A viral streamer, surprise face in the corner, and Tsarukyan apparently laid out one specific rule for him.
DUKE: Something about staying safe, health related, which, knowing how chaotic fight week already got with that faceoff.
NORA: You almost need the rule in writing at this point.
DUKE: Alright, let's shift to some heavier news. Tom Aspinall has vacated the UFC heavyweight title.
NORA: After a year long battle with eye complications stemming from that Ciryl Gane fight at UFC 321.
DUKE: This is brutal, the man was the champ and now nobody even knows when, or if, he fights again.
NORA: He told The Body Lock, quote, ongoing eye complications mean I cannot get cleared to fight right now, end quote.
DUKE: That is not a guy who sounds close to a return.
NORA: He also said, quote, I've had multiple surgeries, accidents and infections, and done everything possible to get back to competing, end quote.
DUKE: Multiple surgeries. That's not a tune up injury, that's a career threatening situation for the best heavyweight on the planet.
NORA: Randy Couture actually reached out to him, said, quote, it took me six months to recover from that, end quote, referencing his own similar eye issue.
DUKE: And Couture added, quote, I hope he recovers well, and I hope he gets back in there somewhere, end quote.
NORA: For the heavyweight division this blows the whole picture wide open, there is no title holder walking around right now.
DUKE: Which means whoever the UFC lines up next at heavyweight is fighting for an actual vacant strap.
NORA: And Aspinall's spot at the top, pound for pound conversations included, is just on pause with no return date.
DUKE: Rough one. Let's lighten it up slightly, Israel Adesanya is training with Alexander Volkanovski's gym in Australia.
NORA: He's made a change of scenery, training with Alexander Volkanovski's gym in Australia.
DUKE: Four in a row is brutal for a former two time champ.
NORA: It is, and a gym change this deep into a skid is usually a last real swing at fixing something structural, not just a tune up.
DUKE: Volkanovski's camp has a totally different flavor than City Kickboxing, so this is a real reset, not a cosmetic one.
NORA: If it works, that's a fascinating turn for a guy people had basically written off at the top of the division picture.
DUKE: Now let's talk RAF thirteen from Miami last night, because there was drama everywhere.
NORA: Khamzat Chimaev beat Gilbert Burns by technical fall in the co-main, racking up fifteen points before finishing it in the second period.
DUKE: He gave up a couple takedowns along the way but never really slowed down.
NORA: Right, dominant scoring win, exactly what you'd expect from that kind of size and wrestling pedigree in that format.
DUKE: And in the main event, Colby Covington ran through Belal Muhammad.
NORA: Shutout technical fall win, ten to nothing, in less than two full periods.
DUKE: Covington backed up every word of trash talk going in, and he's still undefeated in RAF.
NORA: For a former interim welterweight champ with real amateur wrestling pedigree, that's not a shock, that's just him operating in his best environment.
DUKE: And on the undercard, Joe Pyfer dominated Luke Rockhold.
NORA: Rockhold has reportedly competed at RAF before and spent a week training for this one, but Pyfer still handled him.
DUKE: Adding another former UFC middleweight champ to his resume in this format.
NORA: Neither guy is a wrestling pedigree standout, but Pyfer clearly made the adjustments better.
DUKE: Alright, since we're already on Chimaev and Burns, let's do our numbers on that one, even though we already know how it went.
NORA: Our model had Chimaev at about ninety three percent to win before the fight happened.
DUKE: And the actual line had Chimaev as a heavy favorite, right?
NORA: Which implies around ninety four percent, so we were actually a touch lower than the market on this one, not higher.
DUKE: That's rare for us, we're usually the ones seeing more than Vegas.
NORA: We were, but the model still liked Chimaev heavily, big reach and height edge, four inches in both categories, and that's massive in a fight like this.
DUKE: And the finishing profile.
NORA: High finishing rate with both knockouts and submissions, and Burns, durable as he is, has been finished before, so the size and strength gap made him more vulnerable here than his skill set alone would suggest.
DUKE: And the tape backed it up completely, technical fall, dominant scoring the whole way.
NORA: Model call validated. Not every night, but this one landed clean.
DUKE: Okay, quick detour, I gotta talk about Covington backing up the trash talk for a second.
NORA: Go for it.
DUKE: Because everybody rolls their eyes at his mouth, but the man goes out and does exactly what he says he's gonna do.
NORA: A shutout win does tend to quiet that criticism, at least for a week.
DUKE: At least for a week, sure, but come on, ten to nothing against Belal Muhammad in under two periods.
NORA: I mean, it's a different sport with different rules, so I'm not ready to say it changes anything about how he'd look in the cage.
DUKE: Fair, but the confidence, the trash talk turning into results, that's just good theater.
NORA: It's good theater. I'll give you that.
DUKE: See, that's all I wanted.
NORA: Okay.
DUKE: Let's look ahead now. Tuesday, in three days, Dana White's Contender Series, Season ten, Week seven.
NORA: Norbert Novenyi Junior faces Theo Haig in the main event.
DUKE: Contender Series is always a contract on the line kind of night, one big performance changes a career instantly.
NORA: That's the appeal, no big names yet, but a standout performance tonight could be worth a UFC contract.
DUKE: Then Saturday the twenty sixth, UFC Fight Night, Rosas Junior versus Barcelos.
NORA: Raoni Barcelos meets Raul Rosas Junior in the main event.
DUKE: Rosas Junior's always a name people want to see, young prospect trajectory, big test against a veteran like Barcelos.
NORA: And past that, October third brings UFC three thirty two, Natalia Silva versus Wang Cong.
DUKE: And a week after that, October tenth, Brendan Allen versus Christian Leroy Duncan.
NORA: Big middleweight stretch coming up across those next few cards, worth keeping an eye on the whole run.
DUKE: Alright, that's a lot to chew on for one night, and we've still got a full card left to watch.
NORA: Enjoy UFC three thirty one, everybody, we'll be right back with you tomorrow.

One more thing before we go.

We're on Khamzat Chimaev here. Who are you taking?

And while you're here, two quick ones. Our free Fight Tracker is at tracker dot open scoring m m a dot com, with every upcoming UFC and PFL card, live odds, and where to watch, all in one place. And follow us on YouTube, just search Open Scoring MMA, for breaking news alerts, fight breakdowns, and videos you won't get here on the feed.

That's it for today's Open Scoring MMA. Keep your hands up, and we'll see you next time.