After becoming flyweight champ at UFC 323, what’s next for Joshua Van?

At UFC 323, the flyweight title was on the line in the co-main event. Alexandre Pantoja (30-6) was looking to defend his title for the fifth time as he took on top contender Joshua Van (16-2). Nobody expected Van to be in the title picture to close 2025 but here he was challenging for the belt.

Van got a big win over Bruno Silva over the summer and that got him moving in the right direction. However, he surged to the top of the division when he stepped in on short notice against Brandon Royval and defeated the top contender. That’s what earned him this shot against the great Alexandre Pantoja.

When the fight started, Pantoja went right at Van. It was wild from the opening exchanges and you could tell that Pantoja was going to try and bully the challenger. Pantoja threw a high kick and Van blocked the kick and pushed Pantoja to the ground.

Pantoja either dislocated his elbow or broke his arm on the fall and the fight was over. 23 seconds into the co-main event and Joshua Van was the UFC flyweight champion due to injury.

What’s next after UFC 323?

Joshua Van was really in a tough spot because on one hand, he did just win the title, but on the other hand, he didn’t really win the title if that makes sense. It would be like if the heavyweight title was on the line when Tom Aspinall fought Curtis Blaydes the first time.

Aspinall blew out his knee which would’ve made Blaydes the champion. We didn’t really see them fight at all and that’s what happened here. I will say that I wasn’t the biggest fan of the celebration from Van and his corner following UFC 323 because of the way the fight ended.

I totally get seeing the fulfillment of that lifelong dream and being excited, but as a competitor, I feel like it’s not the way you want to do it. Nevertheless, it is what it is and Van is now the flyweight champion. With that, there’s only two possible fights for him after Saturday night.

If Pantoja can fight in the first half of 2026, you absolutely give him the immediate rematch. He’s the second greatest flyweight in the history of the UFC and he deserves a rematch as soon as he’s ready. However, if Pantoja is going to be out for some time, Tatsuro Taira should be Van’s first challenger.