Alexandre Pantoja is starting to look like a higher form of champion for the UFC.
The promotion’s flyweight champion (30-5) submitted challenger Kai Kara-France (25-12, 1 NC) via rear-naked choke in the third round in the co-main of UFC 317 on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was his fourth title defense since taking the belt in 2023.
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Pantoja was dominant from the opening of the first round, taking down Kara-France and nullifying his opponent’s dangerous striking with a more-dangerous ground game. It was almost inevitable he found the right position for the RNC.
In many other divisions, Pantoja would already be making a case for the best ever, but he happens to be in the division dominated by Demetrious Johnson for years. He’s not going to surpass “Mighty Mouse” in many eyes anytime soon, but he did break ties with the former champ for the most wins (14), finishes (8) and submissions (6) in UFC flyweight history.
With wins over Kara-France, Kai Asakura, Steve Erceg, Brandon Royval and Brandon Moreno, Pantoja already has a formidable collection of wins. He called for a higher placement on the pound-for-pound rankings after this one and it’s going to be hard to deny him.
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He also already has his next opponent.
Joshua Van faces off with Alexandre Pantoja after Brandon Royval win
With another title defense on the books, Pantoja can likely already guess his next opponent. In the fight before the co-main, rising star Joshua Van took on Royval, the UFC’s top contender, and emerged with a unanimous decision win (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) in a Fight of the Year contender.
Together, Van and Royval combined for the most punches (419) the UFC has ever seen in a three-round fight, and the third-most when counting five-round bouts per the UFC’s Michael Carroll. Royval actually landed the most significant strikes in UFC flyweight history with 219… with Van landing the second-most (204).
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Van called for a title shot after the fight and there is little reason not to give it to him. The UFC invited Van to face off with Pantoja after the fight, and all that’s seemingly left is to pick a date.
“He’s a great champion, but he ain’t never fought Joshua Van,” Van said.
Van is on a six-fight win streak, and just had the best month of his career. He took out Bruno Gustavo da Silva via third-round TKO at UFC 316 on June 7, then followed up with an even more impressive win on Saturday.
For full coverage of UFC 317, including live results, play-by-play and highlights of the entire Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira pay-per-view card, check out Uncrowned’s UFC 317 hub.
