The rematch between Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja has some real heat behind it.
In December, Van took the UFC flyweight title from Pantoja, winning just moments into the fight when Pantoja dislocated his elbow while falling to the ground. Since then, Pantoja has been healing up from his injury, while Van defended his title with a fifth-round stoppage victory over Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328 in May. Now, the two are set to run things back at UFC 331 next month, and at the opening press conference for the event on Friday, things got testy between the two.
“Had that not happened, I would have still whooped his ass that day,” Van said when asked about the injury that awarded him the title. “So September 19, it’s just another opportunity for me to whoop his ass again.”
“I think he needs to wash his mouth,” Pantoja replied. “I respect where I’m from. I’m from Brazil. In Brazil, you need to take care about what you talk. If not, maybe you lose your teeth.”
Things only heated up from there as Van interrupted Pantoja while he was giving a long answer about what this fight means to him and his history in the division.
“Bro, talk about the fight on September 19,” Van said. “We’re not here for your story, bro. We’re here for the fight.
“Hey kid, when someone talks, you shut your f*cking mouth,” Pantoja responded. “You understand that?”
“Shut up. What you gonna do about it?”
In response to this, Pantoja stood up and started to walk across the dais toward Van, before security intervened to sit him back down, with Van mocking him the whole time.
“You ain’t doing shit,” Van said. “Sit your ass down. Sit your ass down; you ain’t doing shit. Somebody get him some milk.”
“Hey kid, September 19, you’re gonna be locked in the octagon with me,” Pantoja replied.
This is a new look from Van, who seemed to enjoy needling Pantoja and trying to rile him up. But for the former flyweight champion, this just looked like Van pretending to be something he’s not.
“Nothing about Joshua surprises me,” Pantoja said. “He tries to make this character, tries to be the tough guy, but what I see, he’s just a fraidy cat. He’s afraid.”
“I ain’t afraid of shit,” Van responded.
“Oh, I’m so tough,” Pantoja mocked.
“My name is Fearless,” Van said. “I ain’t scared of you.”
The two then had their first faceoff for this fight, where things remained fiery, with both men jawing at each other and Dana White having to keep them apart.
UFC 331 takes place on Sep. 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
