Joshua Van showed he is truly one of MMA’s great champions at UFC 331.
For nine months, Van had to listen to talk of his title fight win over Alexandre Pantoja being a fluke due to Pantoja suffering an arm injury less than 30 seconds into their first meeting; on Saturday, the flyweight champion answered all questions about his legitimacy as he outworked Pantoja for five rounds en route to a riveting decision win.
Pantoja, the once-dominant champion, gave Van everything he could handle, frustrating
him with smothering wrestling and at times matching Van blow-for-blow on the feet. But the younger, more explosive fighter gradually pulled away as the bout progressed, stinging the resilient Pantoja with combo after combo until scoring a decisive knockdown in the fifth and final round to seal the deal.
Paulo Costa put it best on Twitter, writing, “Van is on another level.”
See more of the pros awed social media reactions below.
