Joshua Van Dominates Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331

Joshua Van walked into Los Angeles with a belt. He walked out with a statement.

The 24-year-old flyweight champion from Myanmar retained his title with a commanding points victory over Alexandre Pantoja in their rematch at UFC 331, stripping away any lingering doubt about how the first fight ended.

Their December 2025 meeting had lasted just 26 seconds, ending when Pantoja suffered an accidental elbow dislocation. The result went into the books as a win for Van, but the asterisk followed him. Not anymore.

“A lot of people said that was an accidental win, well, doubt me now,” Van said, his record now a sharp 18–2 in professional MMA.

First UFC champion born in the 2000s, Van had already defended the belt against Tatsuro Taira in May. This, though, was the validation he needed: a clear, composed dismantling of the 36-year-old Brazilian who once ruled the division.

Fight Overview

Pantoja started like a former champion fighting for his legacy. He dragged Van to the canvas in the opening round and went to work, mixing heavy punches and knees in a wild exchange. Van fired back with a slicing elbow that hinted at what was to come, but the challenger had made his point – he was here to fight, not to relive an injury.

Then the champion settled in.

In the second round, Van’s jab took over. The southpaw left hand became a metronome, snapping Pantoja’s head back, disrupting his entries, forcing him to reset again and again. The pace, the distance, the rhythm – all shifted Van’s way.

By the third, Van was flowing. He strung together a fluid combination of punches that rocked Pantoja, the kind of sequence that turns a tactical contest into a survival test. Pantoja stayed upright, stayed dangerous, but the champion’s confidence surged.

Just when Van seemed to be pulling away, Pantoja found a way back in the fourth. He returned to his grappling, took Van down and controlled long stretches of the round. The Brazilian hunted for openings, angling for a submission that never quite materialised. Van refused to panic, defended, waited, and rode out the storm.

That set the stage for a decisive fifth.

Van came forward, stalking Pantoja with the poise of a champion who knew the fight was there to be taken. The breakthrough came with an overhand right that crashed through Pantoja’s guard and sent him to the canvas. The finish didn’t come, but the message did. The judges had all they needed.

When the scorecards were read, Van’s status was no longer up for debate. Not the lucky champion. Not the kid who benefited from a freak injury. The best flyweight in the division.

On the same card, Scottish fighter Casey O’Neill added her own exclamation mark to the night, securing an armbar submission against Eduarda Moura and underlining her rise in the women’s ranks.

For Van, though, UFC 331 was about something deeper than another defence. It was the night the youngest champion of a new era proved he belongs at the very top – and dared the rest of the flyweight division to catch up.