Alexandre Pantoja was looking to make flyweight title defense number five when he took on Joshua Van in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC 323 in Las Vegas.
The fight was the penultimate on the penultimate Pay-Per-View card of the ESPN era (and for at least the next seven years for the UFC, as they move to Paramount+), on the penultimate UFC card of the 2025.
Champion Pantoja came out looking for a fast start, firing off a leg kick and getting into a few early exchanges with Van. However, that hot start and frenetic pace backfired for “The Cannibal,” as the fight ended as quickly as it started. Pantoja fired a head kick, then lost balance and fell to the mat. He tried to steady his arm, but it seemed to dislocate or break. As a result, an injury TKO followed, with Pantoja unable to continue, making Joshua Van the winner by default.
A terrible turn of events for everyone except Joshua Van, who is now the new UFC flyweight champion – the second-youngest UFC champion at 24, after Jon Jones, in history.
There’s no doubt that that fight will have to resume once Alexandre Pantoja is healthy. Although Van Pantoja pushed while going down, there is little doubt that this was primarily a freak injury. “He’s one of the greatest of all time, I didn’t want the fight to go that way,” Van told Joe Rogan after the fight.
Official result: Joshua Van def. Alexandre Pantoja by technical knockout (injury), round 1, 0:26
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