Van kept his
Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight belt on September 19 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, defeating the former champion Alexandre Pantoja by unanimous decision in the main event of the year UFC 331. “Fearless” has revealed he had the perfect training camp for the rematch.
Joshua Van says a shoulder injury kept him out of most of Alexandre Pantoja’s camp
In his post-fight press conference, Van said he injured the AC joint in his right shoulder after a pre-fight press in Philadelphia in August and was unable to spar as normal for much of camp, relying mostly on cardio.
“Coming into this fight after the press conference in Philly, I tore my ACL in my right shoulder and I didn’t even get hit,” Van said. “So the last two weeks was my first sparring and this camp we didn’t do anything but cardio. Just run and stuff. I’ve got to go back there and get an MRI and get checked out so hopefully nothing big.”
With Van recovering from injury, Van is unlikely to return for a third title defense this year. He didn’t call out any flyweight contenders after defeating Pantoja, saying he would take anyone the UFC offered. Ranking 125-pounder
Manel Capewho has finished his last four opponents is seemingly the No. 1 seed.
