Brandon Moreno sees Fight of Night written all over the UFC 331 main event.
Flyweight champion Van (17-2 MMA, 10-1 UFC) runs things back with Pantoja (30-6 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in Saturday's main event (Paramount+) at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Van put an end to Pantoja's flyweight title reign when the Brazilian injured his shoulder just 26 seconds into their UFC 323 headliner in December.
In the meantime, Van defended his belt by finishing Tatsuro Taira by TKO at UFC 328. Despite losing to Pantoja three times, former UFC flyweight champion Moreno is picking Van to win.
"I love the fight," Moreno said on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "I think it's going to be a super good fight. Pantoja was a champion for a reason, but I don't know, I have this feeling
where I think Joshua is going to win. Obviously, you never know, maybe, Pantoja finds a way to win. I mean, he always find a way to get out of trouble and finds the way to get the victory. He gets the takedown and control and everything. So, I don't know. You never know with those kind of fights, but I have this feeling where Joshua's winning."
Moreno was asked about Van's confidence and the notion that he's cocky heading into the Pantoja rematch.
"Maybe, but I understand," Moreno. "He's young and he's enjoying life, you know? He's been doing a lot of good things in a short period of time, so I understand. He's fun to watch and everything. He's cool."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: What Brandon Moreno's gut tells him about Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja
