Joshua Van faces off with Alexandre Pantoja ahead of UFC 331

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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 17: (L-R) Joshua Van of Myanmar and Alexandre Pantoja of Brazil face off during the UFC 331 press conference at Crypto.com Arena on September 17, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) Joshua Van has certainly embraced his role as champion since winning the UFC flyweight title and that hasn’t changed in the days leading up to his rematch against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331. On Thursday, Van was all smiles as he faced off with Pantoja ahead of the highly anticipated rematch at the UFC 331 pre-fight press conference. While Pantoja has remained all business, rarely smirking much less showing any emotion other than anger, Van looked like he was having the time of his life. With UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby standing between them, Van was just grinning away while it looks like Pantoja was ready to eat glass to get at his opponent a couple of days early. When they were finally broken apart, Van just kept on smiling while posing with the belt as Pantoja was pulled in the opposite direction. Prior to the freak injury that ended his title reign, Pantoja was chasing greatness with hope that he could potentially tie or surpass Demetrious Johnson’s insane record with 11 consecutive title defenses. Obviously that’s not happening now that Pantoja lost the belt to Van, but he appears ready to reclaim the title and add yet another title fight victory to his resume. As for Van, he’s not shy about already declaring himself as the best ever and he only plans to cement his place in history with another emphatic victory on Saturday night at UFC 331.

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Joshua Van was anything but stoic as he faced off with Alexandre Pantoja on Friday