Joshua Van retains UFC flyweight title after unanimous decision over Alexandre Pantoja
Myanmar’s Joshua Van defeated former champion Alexandre Pantoja in Los Angeles to secure his second successful title defence.
Joshua Van retained the UFC flyweight championship with a unanimous-decision victory over Brazil’s Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331 in Los Angeles.
The judges scored the rematch 49-46, 49-47 and 50-45 in Van’s favour, according to Al Jazeera. The result gave Van his second title defence and strengthened his position in the division.
Pantoja took Van down in the opening round and controlled parts of the fourth, but Van responded with sustained boxing exchanges. He knocked Pantoja down with an overhand right in the final round before completing the bout on the scorecards.
The fight followed an earlier meeting that ended in an injury stoppage involving Pantoja. Accounts differ on the precise circumstances of that result. Van had also previously defended the title against Tatsuro Taira.
In the co-main event, Arman Tsarukyan stopped Mauricio Ruffy by first-round knockout. Patricio Pitbull recorded a first-round TKO against Dooho Choi, while Sean Sharaf stopped Gable Steveson in 12 seconds in a heavyweight bout.
