UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van put on an impressive performance at UFC 331, defeating former 125-pound kingpin Alexandre Pantoja firmly on the scorecards for his second title defense. There were many questions about whether Van could handle Pantoja, but the 24-year-old champion passed the test extremely well, despite a bad shoulder injury that prevented him from having a proper training camp.
“Coming into this fight, after the press conference in Philly, I tore the ACL in my right shoulder and I didn’t even get hit,” Van said. “So the last two weeks was my first sparring. In this camp we just did cardio, just running and stuff. I have to go back there and get an MRI and get checked out. So hopefully nothing big.”
The acromioclavicular (AC) joint isn’t as important to shoulder function as the glenohumeral joint, but training through an AC shoulder tear en route to a fight with one of the greatest flies of all time is flexible as hell from Van. Maybe it even helped? All that extra cardio definitely paid off in Los Angeles. While both men set an impressive pace throughout the 25 minutes, Van looked fresher in the end and was able to keep his striking sharp and quick in the face of Pantoja’s endless flashes.
While he will have to wait and see what his doctors say about the injury, Van shows no signs of slowing down. He fought four times in 2025 and twice in 2026. If Van has his way, he’ll probably be back in the cage sooner rather than later.
“Right now, man, I just love fighting so much,” he said. “That’s all I care about now.”
