Alexandre Pantoja suffered a fight-ending injury in the UFC 323 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event last weekend in Las Vegas, which cost him the 125-pound title, though it’s unclear the extent (or even the location) of the damage. Regardless, Joshua Van is the new flyweight champion and UFC CEO, Dana White, expects Van to defend his newly-won strap before staging a “Cannibal” rematch.
“We don’t have a timeframe on how long he’ll be out,” UFC CEO, Dana White, said at the UFC 323 post-fight press conference.
“No matter what happened, listen, I’m no f***ing doctor or anything, but I don’t see him coming back anytime soon. I think that there would be a [title] defense [by Van] before he comes back. I think he’s going to need some time.”
Pantoja claims he’ll be back “sooner than you think.”
The next flyweight title challenger may turn out to be Tatsuro Taira, who captured a (mildly) controversial victory over Brandon Moreno on the UFC 323 main card. In fact, BetOnline.ag already has opening odds for an early 2026 showdown, with Taira as the +115 underdog against -135 for Van.
Van remains the underdog at +170 for his inevitable Pantoja rematch, putting “The Cannibal” at -200.
“As soon as [Pantoja] is recovered, I want to run it back,” Van said at the UFC 323 presser. “I respect him so much, and he’s one of the greatest of all time. It doesn’t matter [if he’s next], but I feel like he deserves it. Whatever the UFC wants is what I’m going to do next, but I do want to run it back with him, for sure.”
For more UFC 323 results and highlights click here.
