Joshua Van won five in a row in a span of nine months to earn a shot at the UFC flyweight championship, and the only fighter to ever knock him out believes he can upset 125-pound king Alexandre Pantoja this weekend in Las Vegas.
Charles Johnson, who finished Van 20 seconds into the third round of their UFC Denver clash back in July 2024, expects “a great fight” between the two in the co-main event of UFC 323 at the T-Mobile Arena.
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“I think it’s anyone’s fight, honestly. Whoever shows up that night,” Johnson told MMA Fighting. “I think they’re great, good fighters. Van’s been a champion in another promotion, Pantoja has been a champion in another promotion and in the UFC, so they’re not afraid of each other. Styles make fights, man. You watch Pantoja fight, this dude is not afraid to get hit. He’s going to go forward, he’s going to be a whirlwind of everything and you’re going to have to deal with it. And a lot of guys break. I think that Joshua Van is young enough, and he’s seen enough, that he won’t break.
“It’s about, is he going to be skilled enough to keep him off his back and keep the fight in the center? I think that’s the fun fight to see, that’s the fight that’s going to be taking place that night and whoever is able to make their game work. It’ll be a great fight though, man. I’m excited to see what happens.”
Pantoja has never been finished in 35 professional bouts over nearly two decades, suffering only one knockdown in 17 UFC bouts — against Deiveson Figueiredo in 2019. He successfully defended the UFC title four times over Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, Kai Asakura and Kai Kara-France, stopping his past two opponents with rear-naked chokes.
Pantoja turns 36 in April and sometimes stands and trades in wars instead of looking for grappling opportunities, but Johnson doesn’t expect that to be an issue at UFC 323. Four of Van’s past five wins were decisions, with a knockout over Bruno Silva just three weeks prior to his recent win over Royval.
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“I think that Josh is a great fighter,” Johnson said. “I think Pantoja’s seen enough guys. If you’re gonna fight you’re gonna fight, doesn’t matter your age. He hasn’t shown — people like pointing out age when you get in 30s. I’m in the same boat but like, do that when you see the performances change, when you see guys don’t look better. Everything about Pantoja, he’s shown that he’s looked better over time. He’s not taking risks, he’s just better than these guys. And it’s not a risk to him, he’s already beat most of them before. So for him, it’s just about going out there, being himself and putting together and implementing whatever they put together in camp.”
Johnson believes that the path to victory for the champion is to “be himself” because “he can win the fight wherever he chooses,” and Van has the chance to “shine” if he doesn’t fall under the pressure of competing for UFC gold.
“I always like watching Pantoja fight, honestly, because he gets it done,” Johnson said. “Regardless of the fight, he gets it done. It’s not always easy. … Pantoja hasn’t had any big injuries, never really been hurt in the fight. And Van hasn’t been a knockout artist, he’s a volume guy. It’s hard to box a guy who’s grappling you to the cage. It’s gonna be a lot of things to deal with on both sides.”
Johnson won five of his past six, the only defeat being a decision against a fighter that months later tested positive for banned substances so Johnson considers himself to be on a six-fight winning streak. Johnson will return to action on Jan. 24, facing top-ranked Alex Perez at UFC 324, and believes that a win for Van over Pantoja elevates himself even more in the 125-pound division.
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“It’s cool,” Johnson said. “I mean, in one way it shows that opportunities matter, and if you’re given opportunities, and you make the most of them what you can do. So that’s always inspiring to see what he’s done and to know that I’m right there as well. For me, it’s a lot of good energy about it. I don’t have to defend myself, because I’ve already had a fight with the guy, and I already know improving what I can do, so it’s just about me going out here and winning a couple of fights and putting myself in the same position that he did.”
