Joshua Van Defeats Alexandre Pantoja in UFC 331 Rematch

Joshua Van walked into Los Angeles with a belt around his waist and a question mark hanging over his head. He left with the same gold, but no more doubts.

The 24-year-old flyweight champion from Myanmar retained his title with a dominant points victory over Alexandre Pantoja in their rematch at UFC 331, turning a controversial first meeting into a definitive statement.

Their first fight, back in December 2025, ended in chaos after just 26 seconds when Pantoja suffered an accidental elbow dislocation. Van left with the title that night but not the full respect that usually comes with it. This time, he earned both.

"A lot of people said that was an accidental win, well, doubt me now," Van said, his voice cutting through the noise after moving his professional record to 18–2. It didn’t sound like bravado. It sounded like closure.

A fiery start, a different story

Pantoja, 36 and fighting with the urgency of a man who knew this might be his last shot at the summit, started like he meant to rip the belt away early. He drove Van to the canvas in the opening round and went to work, mixing heavy punches and thudding knees in close.

For a moment, it looked like the veteran might bully the younger man, lean on experience, drag him into deep water straight away.

Van refused to drown.

He answered a wild exchange with a slicing elbow that split through the chaos and reminded Pantoja that this was not the same uncertain champion from their first meeting. Even when he was under pressure, Van’s composure never seemed to crack.

Jab, move, punish

Once the storm of the first round settled, Van began to take over with the kind of clean, disciplined striking that wins titles and keeps them.

In the second, his left hand became a problem Pantoja couldn’t solve. Van peppered him with sharp, stinging jabs, disrupting the Brazilian’s rhythm and forcing him to reset again and again. The champion didn’t rush. He didn’t chase. He simply picked his shots, built his confidence, and slowly took control of the tempo.

By the third round, that jab had opened the door for more. Van flowed through a crisp combination of punches that rocked Pantoja and shifted the feel of the fight. The challenger, once marching forward with menace, now looked like a man trying to navigate a storm he no longer controlled.

Van, who moved to the United States at the age of 12 and has quickly become one of the sport’s brightest new-era champions, fought like someone fully aware of the stakes. This wasn’t just about a title defense. It was about defining his era at flyweight.

Pantoja’s last push

Pantoja is too proud, and too seasoned, to simply fade away. He dug in during the fourth round and leaned again on his grappling, dragging Van back to the mat and trying to turn the clock back in his favor.

For a while, he did what he does best: control, smother, suffocate. But he couldn’t find the finish he desperately needed. Van stayed calm, defended intelligently, and refused to give up his neck or his limbs. The champion lost the round, but not his grip on the fight.

The tension in the arena grew. Pantoja had his moment. Van had survived it. Five minutes remained to decide whether this reign would be questioned again.

The champion closes the show

In the final round, Van walked forward like a man who knew exactly what he had to do.

He stalked Pantoja, cutting off the cage, refusing to give the Brazilian the space to reset. The jab returned. So did the combinations. The difference now was intent: Van wasn’t just scoring, he was hunting.

Then came the shot that sealed it.

An overhand right crashed through Pantoja’s guard and sent him to the canvas, a decisive moment in a fight built on control and accumulation. Pantoja beat the count and battled on, but the damage was done. The judges had seen enough to make their call.

When the scorecards came back, Van’s hand was raised. This time, no caveats, no asterisks. Just a champion standing over a division he can now credibly claim to rule.

The first UFC champion born in the 2000s had not only defended his belt for a second time, after turning back Tatsuro Taira in May, he had done it against the man whose injury once cast a shadow over his coronation.

Now, that shadow is gone.

O’Neill adds to a big night

On a strong night for rising names, Scottish fighter Casey O’Neill also made her mark. She secured a slick armbar submission against Eduarda Moura, another reminder that the next wave of contenders across the divisions is already crashing onto the shore.

For Van, though, UFC 331 belonged to him. The doubts are gone. The belt remains. The only question now is who dares to chase him next.