Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja 2: Fight Week Preview, Tale of the Tape & Keys to Victory
Nine months after their first meeting ended almost before it began, Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja finally get the chance to settle things inside the Octagon.
Van will defend the UFC flyweight championship against former champion Pantoja in the main event of UFC 331 on Saturday, September 19, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The main card begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Paramount+.
Their first fight produced one of the strangest championship changes in recent UFC history.
Just 26 seconds into their UFC 323 meeting last December, Pantoja threw a high kick that Van caught. As Pantoja fell and tried to brace himself, his left elbow dislocated, forcing an immediate stoppage and giving Van the flyweight championship.
Nobody got the answer they wanted that night.
Saturday gives both fighters another chance.
Van wants to prove that the belt belongs around his waist.
Pantoja wants to prove it never would have left his waist without the injury.
Tale of the Tape
| Joshua Van | Alexandre Pantoja | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 24 | 36 |
| Height | 5’5″ | 5’5″ |
| Reach | 65″ | 67″ |
| Record | 17-2 | 30-6 |
| KO/TKO Wins | 9 | 8 |
| Submission Wins | 2 | 12 |
| Status | UFC Champion | Former UFC Champion |
Van is one of the youngest champions in UFC history, while Pantoja brings more than a decade of additional professional experience and remains one of the most accomplished flyweights of his generation.
Joshua Van Has Already Answered One Big Question
When Van became champion in December, the circumstances left an obvious question hanging over his title reign.
Could he beat an elite flyweight in a championship fight without an injury deciding the outcome?
He answered part of that question in May.
Van defended the championship against Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328, stopping him in the fifth round and strengthening his claim as the legitimate leader of the division.
That victory changed the story surrounding this rematch.
Last December, Van was the young contender trying to take down an established champion.
Now he is the champion.
And Pantoja is coming for him.
Why Joshua Van Wins
Van’s biggest weapon is his striking pace.
He is comfortable throwing combinations, working behind volume and forcing opponents to react repeatedly rather than allowing them time to set their own offense.
At only 24, he also appears to be improving from fight to fight.
That matters against Pantoja.
Van’s fifth-round stoppage of Taira showed that he can maintain his offense deep into a championship fight. He does not need to win everything in the first ten minutes.
His movement could also be crucial.
Pantoja wants opportunities to grapple. Van needs to make him work for every takedown attempt and punish him whenever those entries become predictable.
Keys to Victory for Van
1. Keep the volume high
Van should make the 36-year-old Pantoja fight at a sustained pace for 25 minutes.
2. Punish the takedown entries
Every time Pantoja changes levels, Van needs to make him pay with punches, knees or scrambles.
3. Protect his back
This may be the most important key of the entire fight. Pantoja is exceptionally dangerous once he establishes back control.
Why Alexandre Pantoja Wins
Pantoja’s championship reign ended because of an injury — not because anyone clearly proved they were better than him.
Before UFC 323, Pantoja had successfully defended the flyweight championship four times, defeating Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, Kai Asakura and Kai Kara-France.
His biggest advantage Saturday remains his grappling.
Pantoja is relentless once he gets an opponent to the mat. He has 12 career submission victories, including nine rear-naked chokes, and his ability to take the back remains one of the most dangerous weapons in the flyweight division.
Van showed improved defensive grappling against Taira.
But Pantoja represents a different level of threat from the back.
If Pantoja establishes that position early, the entire fight could change.
Keys to Victory for Pantoja
1. Get Van to the mat
Pantoja does not need to prove anything in extended striking exchanges. His clearest advantage is grappling.
2. Attack the back
If Van gives Pantoja even a small opening during a scramble, the former champion needs to take it.
3. Make experience matter
Pantoja has been through five-round championship battles before. If the fight becomes difficult or chaotic, that experience could become important.
The Biggest Question: What Did We Actually Learn From Fight One?
Almost nothing.
That is what makes the rematch so compelling.
Van officially owns a victory over Pantoja.
But 26 seconds is nowhere near enough time to determine how their styles truly match up.
Pantoja believes the injury prevented him from showing why he had become the division’s dominant champion.
Van, meanwhile, cannot control how the first fight ended. What he has done since then is defend the championship against another elite contender.
Saturday removes the uncertainty.
No explanations.
No hypothetical outcome.
Just five rounds — if they need them — to determine who should rule the UFC flyweight division.
Youth vs. Experience
The age difference is impossible to ignore.
Van is 24.
Pantoja is 36.
Van may still be approaching his athletic prime.
Pantoja has already fought through years of elite-level competition.
But that does not automatically make this a young fighter replacing an aging champion.
Before the injury, Pantoja had won eight consecutive fights and established himself as one of the most dominant champions in the UFC.
The question is whether nine months away — combined with a serious elbow injury and his age — has changed anything.
Saturday provides the answer.
3 Fighters to Watch at UFC 331
Arman Tsarukyan
Arman Tsarukyan faces Mauricio Ruffy in the five-round lightweight co-main event.
Tsarukyan remains one of the highest-ranked contenders in arguably the UFC’s deepest division, while Ruffy has emerged as another dangerous name at 155 pounds.
A convincing performance could dramatically affect the lightweight title picture.
Gable Steveson
Gable Steveson continues one of the most interesting transitions in combat sports.
The Olympic wrestling gold medalist faces Sean Sharaf as he continues building his MMA career.
Steveson’s wrestling credentials are already elite. The question now is how quickly the rest of his MMA game develops.
Patricio Pitbull
Patricio Pitbull brings championship experience from outside the UFC into another major Octagon appearance when he faces Dooho Choi.
Pitbull has spent years competing in big fights, while Choi remains one of the division’s most dangerous action fighters.
That makes this one worth watching before the main event even begins.
Final Word
Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja 2 is more than a championship rematch.
It is unfinished business.
Van has already shown that becoming champion was not the end of his rise. His successful defense against Tatsuro Taira gave him something the first Pantoja fight could not:
A championship victory that left no questions.
Pantoja, however, never truly lost his championship through a completed fight.
He lost it because his elbow gave out 26 seconds into a matchup we barely got to see.
Now he finally gets his opportunity to reclaim it.
Van wants to establish a new era at flyweight.
Pantoja wants to restore the old one.
Saturday night in Los Angeles, we finally get the fight we were supposed to see the first time.
