MMA Junkie rankings, Sept. 22: Joshua Van climbs pound-for-pound list

Joshua Van proved he's one of the best fighters in the world this past Saturday at UFC 331. In the night's main event at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Van used his striking to batter Alexandre Pantoja for five rounds to retain the UFC flyweight title by unanimous decision. The win erased any doub

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Joshua Van proved he's one of the best fighters in the world this past Saturday at UFC 331.

In the night's main event at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Van used his striking to batter Alexandre Pantoja for five rounds to retain the UFC flyweight title by unanimous decision. The win erased any doubt about Van's superiority over Pantoja after claiming the belt from him in fluke injury TKO fashion last December. As a result, Van climbs one spot in the MMA Junkie pound-for-pound rankings, going from No. 5 to No. 4 ahead of Alex Pereira.

In the UFC 331 co-headliner, Arman Tsarukyan made a strong case for the next lightweight title shot by knocking out Mauricio Ruffy with a hellacious elbow in the first round. Tsarukyan moves one spot from No. 3 to

No. 2 at 155 pounds, surpassing former champ Ilia Topuria.

Check out all of the moves in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie rankings, Sept. 22: Joshua Van climbs pound-for-pound list