Joshua Van Discloses Sustaining Significant Injury Before UFC 331 and Its Effects on His Training Camp
Despite looking incredibly fluid at UFC 331, Joshua Van wasn't 100% healthy due to a prior injury that also affected his training camp.
Joshua Van's slick striking in the main event of UFC 331 didn't allow fans to figure out that he wasn't completely healthy walking into the encounter. The reigning flyweight publicized his struggles in preparing for the fight due to an injury, but only after getting the job done against Alexandre Pantoja.
Joshua Van Walked Into UFC 331 Fight With Far Less Sparring Than Usual
Van went toe-to-toe with Pantoja right from the opening bell of his second flyweight title defense encounter. While the Brazilian landed several strikes, the Burmese-American also replied aptly with his own slick combinations. However, Van's striking accuracy only got better as the rounds progressed, while Pantoja started fading in the latter rounds.
The final round of the encounter was arguably the best one for the reigning UFC flyweight king. Van landed several significant combos to put Pantoja on the retreat, including a vicious overhand right that floored his Brazilian rival. At the end of UFC 331, Van earned a unanimous decision victory to retain the flyweight title, largely on account of his class-apart striking.
Van revealed that he walked into the fight with an injury during the post-event press conference. His revelation made his striking-based victory even more impressive, as the injury he sustained primarily limits the striking capacity of a fighter.
Van disclosed, "Coming into this fight, after the press conference at Philly, I tore my AC joint in my right shoulder, and I couldn't even spar. So the last two weeks were my first time sparring . In this camp, we did nothing but cardio; just running and stuff like that."
🚨 Joshua Van reveals he suffered an AC joint tear in his right shoulder last month:
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 20, 2026
"I couldn't even spar. The last 2 weeks was my first time sparring. This camp we did nothing but cardio." #UFC331 pic.twitter.com/8PR6WOFDnD
The reigning flyweight champion also stressed the need to get "MRIs" to help him learn about the exact condition of his injury and proceed towards recovery accordingly. But despite hoping that it was "nothing major," Van failed to provide an estimated timeline for his return to the octagon.
Nevertheless, given that he managed to get the better of Pantoja even with an injury, a fully healthy Van can be a nightmare for the rest of the flyweight contenders. It will be interesting to see how soon he manages to recover completely and forge his return to the octagon.
