Joshua Van Tells Alexandre Pantoja He Will Beat Him Again at UFC 331
Joshua Van did not leave any mystery about how he sees Saturday’s rematch. Sitting across from Alexandre Pantoja during fight-week media ahead of UFC 331, the flyweight champion told the former titleholder he plans to beat him again in Los Angeles.
The moment landed one day before their championship rematch at Crypto.com Arena. The UFC flyweight title is on the line, and so is the unfinished argument from their first meeting.
Van took the belt at UFC 323 in December when the fight lasted 26 seconds. Pantoja’s elbow dislocated after Van caught a kick and put him on the canvas, forcing a stoppage that ended a long title reign without a full fight.
Pantoja did not pretend that result never happened. He addressed it first at the table.
“He beat me in the first time, you know, but it is what it is,” Pantoja said. “Saturday night, he has the chance to prove that.”
The No. 1-ranked challenger then made his own case for why he is back in the title picture.
“I’ll beat the best, that’s why I’m here, man.”
Van did not let the exchange stay polite. Looking across the table, the champion answered in the same clip later posted by the promotion.
“I’mma beat yo ass tomorrow,” Van said. He kept going before Pantoja could reset the tone. “I beat you once already. I beat you again tomorrow.”
Then he corrected the day.
“I mean, Saturday.”
The line was crude, short, and aimed straight at the only question this rematch has to answer. Van already has the official win. What he does not have is a complete fight against the man he beat.
That gap has followed him through the first nine months of his reign. Van is 17-2 and has won seven straight, including the title-winning stoppage over Pantoja and a later championship defense. Pantoja is 30-6 and returns for the first time since the injury that cost him the belt.
The 24-year-old champion, born in Myanmar and based in Houston, has treated the rematch as unfinished business rather than a courtesy defense. The 36-year-old former champion has treated it as the fight that should restore the run that ended in 26 seconds.
Van already showed he can last deep into a title fight. He stopped Tatsuro Taira in the fifth round at UFC 328 in May, a defense that required far more than the opening exchange that ended UFC 323.
That win mattered because it was the first time Van had to hold the championship through a long, hard night. It did not close the file on Pantoja.
Pantoja’s return puts the division back at the same fork it reached last winter. A Van win in a full fight would make the first result look less like an accident and more like the start of a real title reign. A Pantoja win would return the belt to the fighter who never lost it over five rounds.
The press-conference exchange also showed how the relationship has changed. Their first meeting did not carry this kind of heat. Van’s comments this week have been sharper, and Pantoja has answered by pointing back to Saturday instead of matching every line.
That is the practical stake for the flyweight division. The champion is 24, finishing fights, and no longer interested in treating the first result as a technicality. The challenger is the most proven name at 125 pounds and is healthy enough again to ask for the belt in person.
UFC 331 is scheduled for Saturday at Crypto.com Arena, with the main card streaming on Paramount+. The flyweight title fight headlines the card, and the only remaining argument is the one both men put on the table in Los Angeles.
Van says he already beat Pantoja and will do it again. Pantoja says Saturday is when the champion has to prove it. The cage is the next place that conversation can go.