Alexandre Pantoja is just like the rest of us. He, like much of the greater UFC audience, feels something special about the next one.
At UFC 323 on Dec. 6, Pantoja (30-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC) looks to extend his reign over the flyweight division even longer when he battles rising star Joshua Van (15-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in a five-round co-main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Advertisement
Van is an unusual fighter, having turned professional only four years ago. Through activity, crisp boxing, and quiet confidence, Van has racked up win after win. Pantoja admits he’s impressed.
“I’m 11 years older. Joshua can still fight for 10 years,” Pantoja told MMA Junkie on Monday via Stake. “He can fight for this belt for 10 years. Maybe not now. I’m going to still (have) this belt with me. But we’ve seen a very good fighter, a very good prospect. One guy had so many good fights to make in the flyweight. Imagine if Joshua Van fight with Brandon Moreno, Steve Erceg. I’m so happy with my division right now.”
Pantoja, 35, has successfully defended his title four times – an unusual multifight defense that isn’t commonly seen in the current era of fighting. Having some fresh blood in the division helps keep things from getting stale – and looking down from his throne, Pantoja thinks it’ll be this way for while. That’s one reason why an attempt at bantamweight gold isn’t in his immediate plans.
“We have so many good names,” Pantoja said. “I’m super happy because I’m the champ. I can show everybody this high level. Everybody understands if you want to be the flyweight champion of the world in the flyweight division, you need to go forward to try to get this high level. This is what I put on the table. I’m very happy, not just because me. Right now, I think it’s the best year for the UFC. You have champions like Islam Makhachev, a very high-level fighter, Ilia Topuria, Merab (Dvalishvili). That’s amazing. I’m thinking about the pound-for-pound. I want to be the best guy. I want to be the best of the best. I’m very happy with my belt, but I want No. 1 pound-for-pound. That’s why I fight. I want to prove I’m the best fighter in all the world. It’s very hard to be the best one in times like now because you have champions like Makhachev, Topuria, Merab. You have Chimaev. But I believe I can make some statement Dec. 6. I know I have a very tough opponent in my front. Because I respect Joshua Van, I train very hard to conquer this belt one more time.”
Advertisement
Pantoja, 35, made his professional debut in 2007 and his UFC debut in 2013. It wasn’t until 2023 that he achieved his ultimate goal as champion. Whether it’s genetics or self-care or the prospect of a hungrier-than-ever challenger, Pantoja said he’s never felt better than he does now despite the in-cage miles.
“I think this fight is about generations,” Pantoja said. “Joshua Van comes from this new generation and I feel like I’m an old school guy. … For me, I think he’s one of my top challenges in the division right now, about everything. He’s very young. He don’t fight a lot like me. He don’t cut weight a lot of times like me. I think he can recover really well about the huge weight cut. There’s a lot of respect. I put that in my mind to put in my focus that I have a dangerous fight. I need to go very high level to win that fight. I think I’m in the best shape of my life. I can prove that with Kai Asakura and Kai Kara-France. After two years with this belt, I’m still evolving. I make better decisions about my diet, about how to sleep better and everything, how to choose the best training for me. I have a GPS for the belt. I already know what I need to do. I can keep improving. I climb the mountain and put more rocks. I’m still climbing. I think it’s going to be my best version. I’m super excited to fight.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Alexandre Pantoja: UFC 323 fight vs. Joshua Van ‘about generations’
