The inevitable next UFC flyweight title fight is set – on the date requested by both athletes.
Champion Alexandre Pantoja and red-hot rising star Joshua Van will Dec. 6 collide at UFC 323 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Dana White announced Monday. The fight will serve as the co-main event to a title fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Petr Yan.
Pantoja (30-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC) and Van (15-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) shared the International Fight Week card UFC 317 in June and squared off in the cage after their victories. Pantoja dominated Kai Kara-France and won by third-round submission, shortly after Van won a thrilling unanimous decision over Brandon Royval.
While White typically deflects questions about matchmaking at post-fight news conferences, he confirmed immediately after UFC 317 that Pantoja vs. Van would be next.
That victory for Pantoja, 35, was his fourth consecutive title defense and extended his winning streak to eight. Title wins include Brandon Moreno, Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, Kai Asakura, and Kara-France.
Myanmar’s Van, 23, has skyrocketed into championship contention with nine UFC fights in his first two years with the promotion. He’s gone 5-0 in the last 11 months since a TKO loss to Charles Johnson.
With the addition, the current UFC 323 lineup includes:
- Champion Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan – for bantamweight title
- Champion Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van – for flyweight title
- Jan Blachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov
- Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott
- Maycee Barber vs. Karine Silva
- Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Antonio Trocoli
