“Two days after my fight, I’m in the gym”: Alexandre Pantoja reveals rapid return after Joshua Van injury

Injuries are part and parcel of MMA. While some fighters manage to return stronger after suffering serious injuries, others struggle to recover and never make it back to the octagon. Alexandre Pantoja suffered a left-arm injury that cost him his flyweight title. Still, the former champion has revealed that he returned to training just two days after the injury, beginning work toward his comeback.

In his fifth title defense, Pantoja faced Joshua Van at UFC 323. Fans expected a high-level contest between the two flyweights, but the fight ended after just 26 seconds. Pantoja landed a kick that Van caught before dumping the champion to the canvas. As Pantoja planted his left arm to break his fall, it hyperextended, resulting in a serious injury and bringing his title reign to an abrupt end.

Alexandre Pantoja reveals he returned to training just two days after injury

Now, Pantoja has a chance to reclaim the flyweight title as he is set to face Van in the main event of UFC 331, which will take place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. The announcement shocked many, given the former champion's quick turnaround after suffering the injury in December and returning to competition in September.

In a recent interview with Brian Campbell for UFC on Paramount+, Pantoja revealed that he returned to training just two days after suffering the injury at UFC 323. He explained that if he had taken much time off, it would have been tough to get back into the shape he was in. 

“I got injury, and two days after my fight, I'm in the gym because I know if I take too much time off, it's going to be very tough to back to my shape, you know, to this level," Pantoja shared. 

Furthermore, Pantoja revealed that rather than completely stepping away from training, he adjusted his routine to work around the injury. He began his rehabilitation while continuing to train with his healthy arm. The former champion even joked that the unusual training routine may have made his right hand stronger 

“I don't stop, you know, back to the gym, start to training, start my physiotherapy, start to training with just one arm in the gym, lift one with one arm, punch in the back with one arm. I think my right hand is very powerful now,” The former champion said.

Check out Alexandre Pantoja’s comments below: 

Whether Pantoja has fully recovered and whether his right hand has gotten better will only be revealed by his performance at UFC 331. Meanwhile, Van successfully defended his title against Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328 via fifth-round TKO and will look to retain his championship in the rematch against the former champion.

Joshua Van promises to finish Alexandre Pantoja inside three rounds 

Backstage at the UFC 331 pre-fight press conference, Van was interviewed by an MMA Junkie reporter. The champion claimed that he will do the same thing he did in his first showdown with Pantoja and secure another finish. He plans to get the job done inside 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.