Joshua Van predicts another early finish against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331

Joshua Van is set to defend his title against the man he dethroned to become UFC Flyweight Champion. He will square off against former flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja in the main event of UFC 331 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sept. 19.

Ahead of the highly anticipated rematch, Van claims that he will finish Pantoja inside three rounds to retain the title.

Joshua Van claims he will finish Alexandre Pantoja under three rounds

Their first showdown took place at UFC 323, and the fight ended far sooner than anyone expected. Pantoja suffered a severe arm dislocation while planting his arm to defend a takedown after Van caught a head kick. Van was awarded the undisputed flyweight title via first-round TKO after just 26 seconds.

Because of the fluky nature of the finish, many fans immediately placed an asterisk next to Van's title win. However, Van silenced his doubters with an impressive performance against Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328.

In the back-and-forth battle, ‘The Fearless’ TKO'd Taira early in the fifth round to successfully defend his flyweight title.

The victory gave Van further confidence heading into his rematch with Pantoja. Speaking to MMA Junkie backstage at the UFC 331 pre-fight press conference, the champion maintained the same confidence he showed before their first meeting at UFC 323 and insisted that his initial victory over Pantoja was legitimate.

"Nah, man. I beat him the first time, and I'm going to do it again this time," Van said.

Van also dismissed the idea that the unusual ending of their first fight had changed his perception of the rematch. The champion believes he can finish Pantoja once again and expects the fight to end under three rounds.

“I'll definitely finish him inside three rounds. Like I said, it's all the same with the first fight. In the first right, I told you guys I was going to finish him inside three rounds. Going into this fight, I see the same thing." Van asserted. 

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However, the rivalry between Van and Pantoja has extended beyond their first meeting inside the Octagon. With both fighters exchanging verbal jabs, tensions have continued to rise ahead of their highly anticipated rematch. The intensity reached another level during the pre-fight press conference.

Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja's tense faceoff forces Dana White to intervene

Throughout the pre-fight press conference, Van and Pantoja continued taking verbal jabs at each other. At one point, Pantoja stood up and appeared to move toward Van, prompting UFC CEO Dana White to step in and hold him back before sitting him down.

The tension carried into their faceoff, which quickly became intense. White remained active between the two fighters and made sure they did not get too close as emotions continued to rise.