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Brett Okamoto
LAS VEGAS — One of the best flyweight title reigns in UFC history came to an end Saturday night in unceremonious fashion.
Joshua Van (16-2), 24, became the second-youngest champion in UFC history as he won the 125-pound championship with a TKO finish over Alexandre Pantoja (30-6) in the co-main event of UFC 323 inside T-Mobile Arena.
The finish came 26 seconds in, when Pantoja was injured as he tumbled to the canvas after Van caught a head-kick attempt. It marked Pantoja’s first loss in more than five years.
Pantoja’s team clarified Sunday that the fighter suffered an elbow injury. UFC CEO Dana White had said at the postfight news conference that the injury was to Pantoja’s shoulder and that he would undergo an MRI.
“I didn’t know what happened,” Van said. “He just stopped. I was trying to ground-and-pound, but the ref said something was wrong. He’s one of the greatest of all time, and I didn’t want the fight to go that way.”
Pantoja, who defended the belt three times before Saturday, immediately left the Octagon to seek medical attention. The injury occurred after he threw a high right head kick that Van caught and elevated into a takedown. Pantoja twisted midair and braced himself for the landing, at which point his lower arm bent awkwardly underneath him.
After the fight, Pantoja took to Instagram to post an update.
“I’ve been through worse,” Pantoja wrote in his post. “I’ll come back even stronger, you can be sure of that. Thank you for the messages.”
The victory capped an incredible year for Van, who will finish 2025 with a 4-0 record. He began the year as a promising but still raw prospect, just six months removed from a knockout loss to Charles Johnson in June 2024. Born in Myanmar and now fighting out of Houston, Van posted wins over Rei Tsuruya, Bruno Silva and Brandon Royval en route to the title shot. His three-round bout with Royval set a record for most combined strikes in UFC history at 419.
Van is also the youngest fighter to eclipse 1,000 significant strikes landed in the UFC.
“I’m so blessed,” Van said after handing his mother the UFC belt. “People of Myanmar, now the world will know of us.”
Pantoja had been in the midst of one of the greatest runs in flyweight history, even entering the conversation of best flyweight of all time with Demetrious Johnson. He won the belt in June 2023 by defeating Brandon Moreno via split decision.