Alexandre Pantoja believes Joshua Van will prove to be his greatest adversary.
Pantoja has looked dominant as the 125-pound champion. After defeating Brandon Moreno to capture the gold, Pantoja has successfully thwarted the challenges of Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, Kai Asakura, and most recently Kai Kara-France. Pantoja submitted Kara-France in the third round to retain his 125-pound gold.
After the fight, the flyweight champion had a staredown with Van, who defeated Royval in a “Fight of the Year” contender.
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During the UFC 317 post-fight press conference, Alexandre Pantoja reacted to Joshua Van emerging as his next title challenger. The 125-pound ruler thinks he’s in for his toughest task to date (via MMAJunkie).
“When I was 23, I was working in the restaurant, cleaning dishes,” Pantoja said. “Look at that. The guy is 23 and going to fight for the belt, for the world championship. I think this guy is going to be my toughest challenger. He’s young. He’s hungry and he doesn’t make wars like I did in the past. I did my 35th professional fight tonight. That’s a lot of wars I passed through with a lot of very good fighters. The UFC gives me this new guy. I think everybody wants to see the new. No more rematches for me. I want to fight with that guy, too. I want that challenge to fight with the new blood, with a new kid.”
Van’s showing against Brandon Royval earned him “Fight of the Night” honors and a shot at the UFC Flyweight Championship. “The Fearless” is riding a five-fight winning streak. He will serve as a fresh matchup for Pantoja if the UFC does indeed make the bout official once both men are fully rested.
