Title Fight Preview: Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja
The first meeting ended in 26 seconds. At UFC 323 in December 2025, Alexandre Pantoja dislocated his arm attempting a takedown in the opening round, and Joshua Van was awarded the TKO stoppage that made him the UFC flyweight champion. The rematch is booked for UFC 331 on September 19, 2026. This time, there are no shortened paths.
The fight carries the UFC flyweight title and every question the first fight left unanswered.
Tale of the Tape
| Joshua Van | Alexandre Pantoja | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 24 | 36 |
| Height | 165 cm | 165 cm |
| Reach | 165 cm | 170 cm |
| Stance | Orthodox | Orthodox |
| Record (W-L-D) | 17-2-0 | 30-6-0 |
| KO Rate | 52.9% | 26.7% |
| Sub Rate | 11.8% | 40.0% |
| Team | 4oz Fight Club | American Top Team |
How Van Got Here
Joshua Van began 2025 as an unranked flyweight. He finished the year as champion. That arc covers five UFC fights, a streak of wins against ranked competition, and a title victory over one of the best flyweights alive.
Van was born in Hakha, in Myanmar's Chin State, and moved to the United States at 12, settling in Houston. He turned professional in October 2021 and has averaged more than four fights per year since, accumulating experience at a pace that contrasts sharply with the measured development of most prospects.
His run in 2025 included wins over Rei Tsuruya (decision), Bruno Gustavo da Silva (TKO), and a short-notice three-round war against Brandon Royval at UFC 317 — a fight that broke the UFC record for most significant strikes landed in a three-round flyweight bout. Each of those wins came against legitimate top-10 opposition.
When the title shot arrived at UFC 323, Van took it. He landed a leg kick that Pantoja attempted to counter. The takedown attempt dislocated Pantoja's arm. Twenty-six seconds. Van was the youngest UFC flyweight champion in history and the first born in the 2000s to hold UFC gold.
His first defense, at UFC 328 in May 2026, answered durability questions that some carried about him. Tatsuro Taira took him down repeatedly across five rounds and controlled long stretches of the fight. Van survived it all, landed the harder shots throughout, and finished Taira with combinations at 1:32 of round five. He stuffed 13 of 21 takedown attempts.
Van — Recent Fights
| Opponent | Result | Method | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tatsuro Taira | Win | TKO, R5 1:32 | May 2026 |
| Alexandre Pantoja | Win | TKO, R1 0:26 | Dec 2025 |
| Brandon Royval | Win | Decision, R3 | Jun 2025 |
| Bruno Gustavo da Silva | Win | TKO, R3 4:01 | Jun 2025 |
| Rei Tsuruya | Win | Decision, R3 | Mar 2025 |
How Pantoja Got Here
Alexandre Pantoja held the UFC flyweight title for more than two years. He won it at UFC 290 in July 2023 via split decision over Brandon Moreno in a fight the division had waited years to see, then defended it four times against top contenders. His reign included submission wins over Kai Kara-France and Kai Asakura, and decision victories over Steve Erceg and Brandon Royval.
The arm injury at UFC 323 ended that reign in a manner nobody wanted. Pantoja dislocated his arm on a takedown attempt and the fight was stopped before it could begin in any meaningful sense. The result stood. Van was the champion.
Pantoja did not need surgery. He was back in the gym within weeks and publicly targeted a summer 2026 return. The UFC booked him at UFC 317 in June 2025 against Kai Kara-France — a fight he won by submission in the third round — to establish that the arm had held up under fight conditions before committing to the rematch.
The title fight at UFC 331 is the outcome Pantoja has been building toward since UFC 323 ended. He arrives as the #1 ranked flyweight, and at 36 years old, this rematch window is the one he has.
Pantoja — Recent Fights
| Opponent | Result | Method | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joshua Van | Loss | TKO, R1 0:26 | Dec 2025 |
| Kai Kara-France | Win | Submission, R3 1:55 | Jun 2025 |
| Kai Asakura | Win | Submission, R2 2:05 | Dec 2024 |
| Steve Erceg | Win | Decision, R5 | May 2024 |
| Brandon Royval | Win | Decision, R5 | Dec 2023 |
Stylistic Matchup
Van is a striker by instinct. Fifty-three percent of his wins have come via knockout. He operates at volume, throws accurate combinations, and his body-shot game has become a consistent finishing mechanism. Against Taira, who came in as the more polished grappler, Van showed that his takedown defense has teeth and that he can work off his back when needed.
Pantoja's profile is built on grappling. Forty percent of his wins have come by submission — the highest rate of any current UFC flyweight contender. He works to control position, wear opponents into scrambles, and apply pressure on the ground. His striking is not passive, but it sets up the grappling. When he is in top position working submissions or ground-and-pound, he is as dangerous as anyone in the division.
The first meeting offered almost nothing useful in terms of stylistic information. Twenty-six seconds of scrambling and an injury stoppage tells neither fighter much about how their games match up.
The rematch, if Pantoja can get it to the mat and keep it there, is a different proposition than what Van handled against Taira. Pantoja's submission offense is more creative and more experienced than Taira's grappling. Van will need to answer whether the takedown defense he showed in the first title defense holds up against a specialist with the deepest submission record in the division's history.
If the fight stays standing, Van's volume and power put him in favorable territory. He is 12 years younger, and his output over five rounds is now verified.
Intangibles
The manner of the first fight matters here. Pantoja lost the title without ever having a chance to compete in it. Van won it and has since proven he can take a full-length title fight, but the questions around who would win a clean fight are legitimate. Neither camp goes into UFC 331 with clean data on the other.
Pantoja is 36. The timeline between UFC 323 and UFC 331 — nine months from injury to rematch — is the kind of gap that forces a hard look at recovery and readiness. How the body responds to a full championship camp after a dislocating injury at 36 is a real variable.
Van has shown he does not need the pressure of the occasion lifted. He won the title on limited preparation and defended it in a brutal five-rounder. The situation at UFC 331 is his to control.
What a Win Means
If Van wins, the asterisk disappears. A second title defense over the man who held this belt for more than two years, in a clean fight, seals his legitimacy regardless of how the first fight unfolded. Van at 24, with a title defense already banked and a rematch victory, enters a different conversation about what his tenure could become.
If Pantoja wins, he reclaims the title in what becomes one of the better comeback stories in flyweight history. A former champion losing the belt on injury and taking it back in a full fight at 36 would reframe the UFC 323 result as a detour rather than an ending. It also raises real questions about what Van's title reign actually established.
The Bigger Picture
The UFC flyweight division has not produced a long-term dominant champion since the Demetrious Johnson era ended. Every champion since has faced legitimate challengers, close fights, or controversial losses. Van has a chance to change that trajectory if he wins clearly on September 19.
At 24 years old with championship experience already behind him, he has the runway to do it. Pantoja, at 36, is running out of title fight windows.
UFC 331. September 19.