Joshua Van wants UFC to give Alexandre Pantoja a rematch

UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van has made it known that he wants to see Alexandre Pantoja get a future rematch for the world title.

This weekend at UFC 328, Joshua Van will defend his UFC flyweight championship against Tatsuro Taira. It will serve as his first appearance as champion, following on from his win over Alexandre Pantoja to win the strap. Of course, the reason why he left with the title was because Pantoja suffered a nasty injury in the early stages of the fight.

Ever since then, fans have been wondering what exactly a Joshua Van vs Alexandre Pantoja rematch would look like. While Pantoja is certainly further along in his career and has a lot more miles on him, he has the experience necessary to cause someone like Van problems.

In a recent interview, Joshua Van made it crystal clear that he wants to run it back with Pantoja at some point in the future.

Joshua Van on Alexandre Pantoja rematch

“That is over with,” Van told MMA Fighting. “Right now, I’m just focusing on Taira. Like I said, me and Pantoja going to run it back anyways after this fight. I don’t think about that no more.”

“Facts,” Van said about Pantoja deserving the rematch. “He dominated the division. It’s only right they give him the rematch. Yeah, I really hope me and him can run it back.”

“When they first called me for the two weeks’ notice they said Taira or Manel and I said Manel,” Van said. “It didn’t go through. Then for March 7, they said let’s do it and I said yes. Both of them said no, I guess. Now the UFC is like you’re fighting Tatsuro and that’s it.

“I’m definitely going to fight all of these guys anyway. I just want to get whoever. I just chose Manel because he called me out so I wanted to run that but now I’ve got Tatsuro to worry about. After that, whoever the UFC gives me.”

Quotes via MMA Fighting

Before that, though, Van has to ensure he gets through Taira on Saturday night.