On December 6th, Joshua Van won his fight in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas against Alexandre Pantoja and became the new UFC flyweight champion, the second youngest in the history of the UFC, and the first male born in Asia to become a champion. However, the way Joshua Van won the title has been the subject of controversy among fans of the UFC.
The match ended swiftly, lasting for only 26 seconds before Joshua Van defeated Alexandre Pantoja by TKO due to an injury. The disastrous injury occurred when Pantoja planted his arm on the floor while falling after performing a kick, leading to his elbow snapping under his weight.
The abrupt ending to a long-awaited championship match left fans disappointed. This disappointment was shared by Joshua Van. He had always wanted to win a UFC title, but not because of his opponent injuring themselves. Van has stated that, “As soon as he’s recovered, I want to run it back because I respect him so much.”
After the match, many fans took to social media to question the legitimacy of Van’s win. When asked in a post-fight conference about the fans who are discrediting his win, he simply said, “F*ck them.” He gave another statement regarding criticism: “If you do good, they’ll talk sh-t, and if you do bad, they’ll talk sh-t, so do what makes you happy.”
After the match, Pantoja gave his thoughts on social media, giving his support to Joshua Van, calling him the legitimate flyweight champion. He also gave a warning to Van, saying that he needs to be prepared because he plans on coming back to win his belt back after he recovers.
The shoulder injury that Pantoja received seems to be a serious one and is expected to keep him out of the ring for an extended period of time. Hopefully, he will recover swiftly and have that rematch both fighters are eagerly waiting for.
