Joshua Van walked into UFC 323 with the confidence of a man who already knew where he belonged and he walked out as the second-youngest champion in UFC history. The 24-year-old claimed the flyweight title after Alexandre Pantoja suffered a freak arm injury just 26 seconds into the fight, but Van isn’t letting anybody downplay his moment.
Critics who’ve tried to dismiss the win didn’t get polite answers from the new champ.
“F*ck them,” Van said at the UFC 323 post-fight presser. “If you do good, they will talk sht and if you do bad, they will talk sht, so do what makes you happy. It don’t matter what they think. I won.”
The victory capped off one of the fastest championship runs in modern MMA. Van debuted in 2021 and quickly racked up a 15-2 record while taking out names like Brandon Royval, Bruno Silva, and Cody Durden. He didn’t see the Pantoja matchup as too much, too soon and he proved it.
Still, Van isn’t pretending the ending was ideal.
“This whole week, it was kill or be killed,” Van said. “I knew I was going to win the fight, but I didn’t want the fight to end that way, for sure. As soon as he’s recovered, I want to run it back. I respect him so much. He’s one of the greatest of all time… so I do want to run it back with him.”
Pantoja’s injury, a brutal fall that left him with a dislocated elbow or worse, means the rematch may take time. However, in the meantime, Joshua Van already has another rising threat circling: Tatsuro Taira.
Taira delivered the biggest win of his career on the same card, becoming the first fighter to knock out former champion Brandon Moreno. The performance immediately positioned him as a top contender and Van isn’t dodging that matchup either.
“He looked great tonight,” Van said. “I do want to give Pantoja a rematch for sure… but whatever the UFC wants. Whatever it is, they’ve got my number.”
Whether it’s a rematch with Pantoja or a showdown with Taira, Joshua Van has made one thing clear, he’s not here to sneak into a title reign. He plans to own it and after UFC 323, one thing is certain: the Joshua Van era has officially begun.
