Some title fights need a rematch. This one demands it. Joshua Van holds the UFC flyweight championship because Alexandre Pantoja suffered an elbow injury 26 seconds into their meeting at UFC 323 — a title changing hands before either man had thrown anything meaningful.
On Saturday 19 September at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, UFC 331 gives the division the fight it was denied.
The champion has since proved the point
Whatever the circumstances of the win, Van has answered the obvious question. He defended the belt in emphatic fashion with a fifth-round TKO of Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328 in May — a finish that late in a championship fight says as much about conditioning and will as it does about power.
A champion who stops a top contender in the fifth is not a paper champion.
Pantoja's last act
Pantoja, 36, is chasing history: he would become just the third flyweight in UFC history to reclaim the championship. Before losing the belt he defended it four times — against Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, Kai Asakura and Kai Kara-France — a reign that stands as one of the division's best.
The Brazilian's case rests on the one thing the first fight never tested: whether his grappling and championship-round experience still solve the puzzle Van presents.
