Alexandre Pantoja’s coach shares medical update after devastating elbow injury at UFC 323

Former UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja might need surgery after a devastating elbow injury suffered at UFC 323 last Saturday.

Alexandre Pantoja’s historic run as the UFC flyweight champion came to an abrupt conclusion last Saturday at UFC 323. Just minutes into his fight with Joshua Van, Pantoja suffered a gruesome elbow injury while trying to brace himself on the canvas during a fall.

Van was crowned the UFC flyweight champion and, albeit in controversial fashion, will kick off a new era in the flyweight division next year.

In the meantime, Pantoja’s all-time great run is a thing of the past as he focuses on recovering from his elbow ailment. In the days following UFC 323, Pantoja has appeared in good spirits as he’s addressed fans on social media.

Pantoja’s coach provided arguably the most detailed update on the former champion’s health and return timeline since UFC 323.

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In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, American Top Team coach Marcos Parrumpa provided an update on Pantoja’s health and return timeline.

“There’s nothing wrong with the shoulder, it was the elbow,” Parrumpa said of Pantoja.

“We have to give maximum priority to Pantoja’s recovery. It doesn’t matter what’s going to be done from here on out. The main thing is to get Pantoja’s arm healed. If surgery is needed, he’ll have surgery. If he doesn’t need surgery and only needs physical therapy, then that’s what we’ll do. We went to the doctor today and got good news, nothing is broken. So we’re going to wait through the next couple of weeks to see what’s really going to happen. It’s still too early to see how long he’ll be out.”

Parrumpa went on to reveal the UFC’s stance on Pantoja’s next fight.

“They want to do an immediate rematch, but everything will depend on how long Pantoja will be sidelined,” Parrumpa said.

“If it’s a reasonable amount of time, we’ll go for the immediate rematch. If it’s longer, the division really can’t stay stalled. We understand that. But what we want is, no matter how long Pantoja is out, we want him to come back already fighting for the belt. That’s fair for a dominant champion like Pantoja, not only because of the number of title defenses which, until Saturday, was the most among all current champions, four defenses, but also because he’s beaten most of the top 15 in the division, basically.

“I think he deserves to return straight into a title fight, whether it’s against Joshua Van or anyone else.”