Van-Pantoja bad blood fuels UFC 331 flyweight title rematch — SkimNews
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- Joshua Van dethroned Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 323 in December via first-round TKO after just 26 seconds when Pantoja dislocated his left elbow following a blocked high kick, and has since defended the belt with a fifth-round TKO of Tatsuro Taira in May.
- Van, a 24-year-old from Myanmar who moved to Houston as a teen, entered the August press conference in Philadelphia wearing dark sunglasses indoors and repeatedly interrupted Pantoja with taunts like "It looks good on me" about the belt.
- Pantoja, 36, leapt from his seat at the same presser and had to be physically held back by UFC CEO Dana White after Van baited him with insults, prompting Van to respond, "Sit your ass down, you ain't doing shit."
- Pantoja tried to downplay the feud afterward, calling Van "an afraid cat" and insisting, "Nothing about Joshua Van surprises me... It's not personal for me, this is business," though he also warned Van, "maybe you lose your teeth."
- Van told CBS Sports he plans to "finish him inside of three rounds" and dismissed any lingering injury excuses from Pantoja, saying, "He did say he was ready five months ago and now he had another five months to heal up."
- Van staked a claim as flyweight GOAT at Thursday's final presser, saying, "He was the greatest of all-time until he fought me," a remark that notably omitted Hall-of-Famer Demetrious Johnson, who still holds the division record with 11 consecutive title defenses.
Why it matters: Van enters Saturday as a slight betting favorite at age 24, meaning a win cements him as a legitimate champion rather than a beneficiary of Pantoja's freak elbow dislocation, while a loss would vindicate Pantoja's framing of their first meeting as an unfinished fight — with the trash-talk escalation adding a commercial layer to a rematch the UFC needed to sell.
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