Joshua Van left no doubt that he is the best flyweight in the world following his unanimous decision victory over Alexandre Pantoja in the UFC 331 main event.
It was a back and forth war for 25 minutes but Van’s boxing, speed and ability to control where the fight happened really made a diference when it was all over. The three judges gave Van the nod with scores reading 49-46, 49-46 and 50-45 as the 24-year-old phenom secured his second title defense with a jaw-dropping performance at UFC 331.
“Don’t let your circumstance determine your life,” Van said after his latest win “Doubt me now.
“Shout out to Pantoja. He’s a tough motherf*cker. I did my submission and I don’t know how he got out of that shit! I don’t know how he got out. He’s just that good.”
It took Pantoja a matter of seconds to bring Van crashing to the ground with a takedown before advancing to the mount. Pantoja maintained control as he flattened Van out on the ground to set up a slew of potential submissions.
Van exploded off the bottom and ultimately ended up top of Pantoja as the champion and challenger ended up back on the feet. Pantoja was throwing huge punches and knees while Van was more methodical with his striking approach.
Another wild exchange saw Pantoja score a takedown but Van was quick to bounce back to his feet as the first round came to a close.
Pantoja continued with his attacks and then mixing in takedowns but Van was slick in his reversals and never getting caught in a bad position where he couldn’t escape.
As Pantoja kept trying to employ his grappling, Van showed no fear stepping into the pocket as he just unloaded combinations that blasted the Brazilian. Van’s hand speed and power really showed a difference in the striking exchanges but Pantoja wasn’t backing down or giving up.
At the start of the fourth round, Pantoja secured another takedown but he wasn’t doing much damage with Van defending well from the bottom. Pantoja was able to maintain control on the ground but he couldn’t do much of anything else with Van giving him fits on the ground.
With five minutes remaining, Van was quick to attack with his hands while Pantoja was focused on throwing a variety of kicks. Van clipped Pantoja with a nice combination of punches capepd off by a power right hand that caught the Brazilian off guard.
With less than two minutes to go, Van snapped off a beautiful combination that sent Pantoja crashing to the canvas. Van followed him to the ground and continued hammering way looking for the finish. Pantoja wouldn’t go away but Van very nearly got the finish with time ticking away to the final horn.
When it was over, there was little doubt that Van had done enough to secure his victory and a second title defense after previously beating Tatsuro Taira back in May. Van has quickly defined himself as not only the top flyweight in the sport but one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the UFC.
