UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van outlines how he'd like to beat Alexandre Pantoja in their rematch

The feud between Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja appears to be as intense as ever. Van, for his part, has warned that he'll stop "The Cannibal" by way of submission when they clash in their long-awaited rematch. 

Van captured the UFC flyweight title by dethroning Pantoja via first-round TKO, owing to a mid-fight arm injury to the Brazilian fighter, last December.

The newly crowned champion notched his first title defense by beating Tatsuro Taira via fifth-round TKO back in May. On the other hand, Pantoja recently asserted that he's recovered from his injury and is seeking to recapture his title from Van. 

Joshua Van highlights how he intends to defeat Alexandre Pantoja when they clash in their UFC flyweight title rematch

As of this time, the UFC hasn't officially announced the Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja UFC flyweight championship rematch. 

Certain sections of the MMA community have cast aspersions on Van's title reign. His detractors have insinuated that Pantoja's defeat was due to an unfortunate injury rather than due to the Burmese-American being a better combatant than him. 

Well, Van spoke to The Schmo during a live Q&A session onstage during the International Fight Week in Las Vegas earlier this month. 

Upon being questioned about whether there's a part of his game that the fans are yet to see, Van underlined his Jiu-Jitsu prowess.

Taking an NSFW jibe at his archrival, Alexandre Pantoja, "The Fearless" stated, "My Jiu-Jitsu... My next fight, I'll probably submit (Alexandre) Pantoja b**ch-a*s." 

When asked if he does want the Pantoja rematch to be his next fight, Van replied, "Yeah. Yeah. That's who I want next, for sure." 

The Schmo chimed in and alluded that Van followed up the injury-marred first fight against Pantoja by impressively silencing many doubters when he beat Tatsuro Taira in a five-round barnburner.

Also, he opined that the 24-year-old would like to solidify his standing as the 125-pound kingpin by winning the rematch against Pantoja. Van seemed to concur and responded: 

"Yeah, man. This rematch is going to be sweet. You know, we're about to show the world why we won the first fight. And the rematch ain't going to be no different." 

In regard to whether their second encounter inside the octagon would end even quicker or be more impressive, the Burmese-American fighter explained, "I think it's going to take a little longer, you know. As soon as we figure him out, probably gonna submit his a*s." 

Joshua Van suggested he'll fight Alexandre Pantoja before potential clashes against rival Manel Kape and other contenders

During the latter part of his conversation with The Schmo, Joshua Van indicated that he'd be open to fighting the winner of the UFC 329 clash between Brandon Royval, whom he previously outpointed, and Lone'er Kavanagh.

For context, his meeting with The Schmo transpired before UFC 329, which was held on July 11, and Royval ended up submitting Kavanagh at the event. 

Well, Joshua Van laid down his plans -- affirming that he'd like to defend his belt in a rematch against Alexandre Pantoja first, then fight bitter rival and former Rizin bantamweight champion Manel Kape, and later face the Royval-Kavanagh victor. 

Van was also asked whether his rematch against Pantoja is likely to materialize this year, to which he answered, "Hopefully. Yeah. You guys will hear the news soon." 

Watch Joshua Van take aim at Alexandre Pantoja and address several other topics as well below (*comments at the 8:13 and 13:45-minute marks of the video):