Joshua Van made the first defense of his 125-pound title with a fifth-round submission victory over Tatsuro Taira in the UFC 328 co-main event last weekend at Prudential Center in Newark, an epic “Fight of the Night” performance that solidified “Fearless” as the undisputed flyweight champion.
That said, Van is still the betting underdog against Alexandre Pantoja and Manel Kape.
That’s according to the bookies at BetOnline.ag, which have Van at +150 for his Pantoja do-over and +135 for a potential title
defense against Kape, assuming “Starboy” wins this upcoming rematch against Kyoji Horiguchi in June. “The Cannibal” and Kape clocked in at -175 and -255, respectively.
Van defeated Pantoja at UFC 323 after “The Cannibal” suffered an arm injury.
“I saw [Pantoja] and shook his hand, I don’t have a problem,” Van told Full Send MMA backstage at UFC 328. “But I don’t like him making it seem like I’m the bad guy. We fought and you fell and broke your hand. If you want to run it, be respectful. You don’t have to make all these stories.”
A timeline for Van’s Octagon return has yet to be determined.
