This is the UFC 323 live blog for Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van, the flyweight championship co-main event Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Pantoja (30-5) has been a dominant champion at 125 pounds and currently stands at No. 4 in the MMA Fighting Pound-for-Pound Rankings—an evaluation that might not be giving him enough credit. Since 2020, Pantoja has been on a tear, clearing out the top 10 of the division and successfully defending his title four consecutive times, the longest defense streak among current UFC champions.
He finds himself in a battle against the future as he takes on Van (15-2), who made his pro debut in 2021 when Pantoja was already 29 fights into his career. Van has more than made up for lost time, fighting 17 times four years and winning eight of his nine UFC outings. He won a Fight of the Year contender over Brandon Royval to earn his shot at Pantoja and, at 24, has the chance to become the second-youngest champion in UFC history behind only Jon Jones.
Check out the UFC 323 live blog for Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van below.
Update: Older fighters are now 0-2-1 on the UFC 232 main card.
Can Alexandre Pantoja break that trend?
Pantoja expected to retain again, the -210 favorite. Van a live dog at +176.
Herb Dean referees this championship bout.
Pantoja right at it throwing a leg kick and then exchanging punches with Van. Surprisingly, Van goes to grapple first. High kick from Pantoja, Van catches it and trips Pantoja. WTF PANTOJA’S ARM IS INJURED. He’s signaling he can’t continue and THIS FIGHT IS OVER.
JOSHUA VAN IS THE UFC FLYWEIGHT CHAMPION
Joshua Van def. Alexandre Pantoja via TKO (arm injury) – Round 1, 0:26
I’ve… never seen anything like that before.
“Now the world will never forget Joshua Van and the people of Myanmar, now the world will know of us,” Van said. “And I love you, mom!”
He says he wasn’t fully aware of what happened, but saw the ref indicating something was wrong.
“He’s one of the greatest of all time and I didn’t want the fight to go that way,” Van said. “Maybe the UFC will figure something out.”
He’s asked if he’s interested in fighting Tatsuro Taira and he says he’ll fight whoever is put in front of him.
No post-fight interview for Pantoja, obviously.
