both claim they have tricks up their sleeves for a rematch.
Pantoja (30-6) tries to reclaim
Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight title from Van (17-2) in a rematch at UFC 331 September 19 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Both 125-pounders have identified holes in each other’s games that they want to exploit.
Alexandre Pantoja’s trainer has called off their UFC 331 flyweight title rematch
Pantoja muay thai coach and
America’s Top TeamAnderson Franca, says the Brazilian has some surprises in store for his return to the Octagon. He believes Van is trying to keep the fight up because he is concerned about Pantoja’s ground game. But Franca claims that Pantoja can surprise Van on the feet as well and predicts the exact end of the fourth round.
“Van’s fight with Taira gave us a lot of elements to explore how he might approach this fight,” Franca told Sherdog. “We have a plan A and a plan B. We will bring some surprises. Pantoja is extremely motivated and our expectations couldn’t be better. It was a very good training camp. Parrumpa really tried to make sure he could go hard for all five rounds if necessary. I believe Joshua Van wants to keep the fight standing and emphasize his boxing. I think Pantoja can still surprise him, but Pantoja can still be worried. I believe Pantoja will finish in the fourth round.
Joshua Van explains the opening he plans to use against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331
Meanwhile, Van says he’s noticed a chink in Pantoja’s armor that he plans to exploit. He also says he’s not worried about the former champion fighting and even believes he could be wrong on a sneaky submission. The 24-year-old champion plans to finish Pantoja in three rounds.
“We’re working on defending that position, but maybe I’ll be the one to choke him naked in the rear,” Van told Full Send MMA. “I’ve shown with Taira that I’m not afraid of the ground; I’m looking for a sub if it’s there. We’ve been studying him and we’ve seen a little hole he has in his game that we’re going to exploit. There’s a couple of things I can’t talk about, but it’s going to be done over three rounds.”
