Pantoja has a young and hungry contender waiting for him in Joshua Van. The two will mix it up in Saturday’s co-main event. Pantoja’s UFC flyweight championship is on the line at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
During a media day session ahead of UFC 323, Pantoja discussed what he hopes to accomplish if he can thwart Van’s challenge (via MMA Junkie).
“I want to be (No. 1) pound for pound – I want to be the best fighter in the world,” Pantoja said. “It’s very difficult to overcome that because we have a lot of good champions at the moment.
“You have (Islam) Makhachev, Merab (Dvalishvili), (Ilia) Topuria, (Khamzat) Chimaev, (Alex) Pereira, (Alexander) Volkanovski – so many great guys. I think this is the best time to be a UFC fan, but at the same time it is very difficult for fighters to take the No. 1 position.”
There has been some debate within the MMA community as to whether or not Pantoja is receiving proper recognition as a dominant UFC champion. From recently told Newsweek Sports that he really believes that Pantoja has received the right honor.
“Yeah, I think so, because everyone says he might be the biggest flyweight,” Van said. “I think they’ll give him the flowers he deserves, at number 5 pound-for-pound or something like that. That’s pretty high.”
If Pantoja emerges victorious on Saturday, it will be his fifth successful UFC flyweight title defense. The reigning 125-pound champion has said he has no plans to move up in weight unless there is a special circumstance.
BJPenn.com has you covered on fight night for UFC 323. Be sure to check out the homepage for coverage of the final UFC pay-per-view of 2025 and beyond, with the new Paramount+ deal taking effect next year.
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