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Van Retains UFC Flyweight Title in Unanimous Decision Over Pantoja
Confirmed
In Short: Joshua Van retained his UFC flyweight title with a unanimous decision over Alexandre Pantoja in UFC 331 in Los Angeles.
Joshua Van successfully defended his UFC flyweight title against Alexandre Pantoja, securing a unanimous-decision win in the main event of UFC 331 in Los Angeles on Saturday night.
Van, the first UFC champion from Myanmar, extended his professional MMA record to 18 wins and two losses with this victory.
The fight was a rematch after their first encounter ended abruptly when Pantoja suffered an accidental elbow dislocation just 26 seconds into the bout, leading to Van becoming the champion without a clear win over Pantoja.
In this contest, Pantoja initially dominated the first round, taking Van down and landing heavy punches and knees.
However, Van retaliated with a slicing elbow and began to assert his dominance in the second round, peppering Pantoja with left-handed jabs and rocking him with a fluid combination of punches in the third round.
Pantoja managed to control the fourth round by taking Van down, but Van remained resilient and continued to land significant strikes.
In the final round, Van knocked Pantoja down with an overhand right, solidifying his victory on the judges’ scorecards.
Van’s win was a unanimous decision with scores of 49-46, 49-47, and 50-45, cementing his reign as the undisputed flyweight champion.
Van’s victory was particularly significant as it settled the score with Pantoja, who had reigned over the division for at least two years.
In the co-main event, Armenian contender Arman Tsarukyan claimed a first-round knockout victory over Mauricio Ruffy, staking his claim for a shot at the lightweight title.
Van’s performance in this rematch was a testament to his striking prowess and his ability to withstand Pantoja’s aggressive tactics.
This victory removes the asterisk over Van’s title reign and solidifies his status as the top contender in the flyweight division.
What this adds
The fight was closely watched as it aimed to settle the controversy surrounding Van's initial championship win due to Pantoja's injury.
What's confirmed
- Pantoja had suffered an accidental elbow dislocation 26 seconds into their first fight in December last year, resulting in Van becoming the UFC flyweight champion without an outright win over the Brazilian, who had reigned over the division for at least two years.
- Pantoja took Van down in the first round before landing heavy punches and knees in a fiery exchange, as Van retaliated with a slicing elbow.
- Van peppered Pantoja with left-handed jabs in the second round and rocked the Brazilian with a fluid combination of punches in the third.
- Pantoja controlled the fourth round as he took Van down but was unable to submit him.
- In the final round, Van stalked Pantoja and knocked him down with an overhand right, securing the win on the judges’ scorecards.
What's still developing
- Van, the first UFC champion from Myanmar, defended the belt against Tatsuro Taira in May but was left waiting to seal his status as the best in the division as 36-year-old Pantoja recovered from the injury.
- Van, the first UFC champion born in the 2000s, defended the belt against Tatsuro Taira in May but can now claim to be the best in the division after soundly beating 36-year-old Pantoja again.
- Now that he has finally banished Alexandre Pantoja, Joshua Van has a lot of fresh matchups in and out of the UFC This time around, the fight actually had a chance to get started as the legendary Brazilian was able to land big shots early and get to work.
- Van did well to stay up but wasn’t able to land much of significance before the former title holder found his back at the end of the round.
- Pantoja started the championship rounds with a big headkick that Van walked through impressively.
- Joshua Van finally banished Alexandre Pantoja with a dominant decision win as they actually got the chance to fight for 125lb gold tonight.
- Back in December at UFC 323, Pantoja suffered a freak elbow injury in the opening exchanges of what could have been a record-equalling flyweight title defence against Joshua Van.
- Within 20 seconds Pantoja had rocked Van and taken the fight to the ground, leading Joe Rogan to proclaim that things were ‘not good’.
- Things looked very different when a fully fit Pantoja had a chance to get his hands on Van.
- And Van did a great job to make sure that the round didn’t end with Pantoja on top having landed two of his three takedown attempts.
- Van is now looking to use the rematch to prove he is truly the top dog in the division, while Pantoja is battling to prove he still deserves the crown.
- Pantoja found success with more knees, Van with an elbow, and “The Cannibal” finished the frame with his second takedown.