Alexandre Pantoja’s multi-year reign as UFC Flyweight Champion came to an end Saturday not due to a submission, knockout or a collection of scorecards, but an awkward fall just seconds into his fight against Joshua Van.
An arm injury to Pantoja brought an unceremonious end to the co-main event of UFC 323, causing the beginning of a new title reign inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A hard landing for Pantoja after a head kick to Van seemingly caused a dislocated shoulder, forcing Pantoja to wave himself off and end the contest in just 26 seconds. Pantoja had an aggressive gameplan before the finish, advancing against Van with big shots.
The injury prevented viewers from seeing one of the more anticipated title fights the flyweight division has seen as of late.
24-year-old Van became a frontrunner for challenging Pantoja back in June, when he prevailed in a short-notice assignment against former title challenger Brandon Royval at UFC 317. Stepping in for Manel Kape, Van took a unanimous decision win in an explosive “Fight of the Year” contender.
The step-up victory only built upon what has become a lengthy streak for Van over the past two years, beating prospects like Rei Tsuruya and Bruno Silva to amass four straight victories.
Van is now the second-youngest UFC champion of all time, missing the record set by Jon Jones in 2011 by just a few months.
Pantoja had become an unstoppable force at 125 pounds over the past two years, with his run with the title clocking in at an impressive 882 days with four defenses.
While far from reaching the records set by the title run of Demetrious Johnson from 2012 to 2018, Pantoja earned the second-longest reign in flyweight UFC history with wins over Royval, Kai Kara-France, Steve Erceg, and Kai Asakura.
It seems likely that Pantoja will receive an immediate rematch once ready to return. However, if not available immediately, another strong challenger is waiting in the wings in Japan’s Tatsuro Taira.
Taira, who, similar to Van, has reached contender status despite only being in his mid-20s, improved his UFC record to a stellar 8 for 9 with a second-round TKO win over former champion Brandon Moreno on Saturday night. He was seen sitting at cageside for the short amount of time when Pantoja and Van were in the spotlight this evening.
