UFC 323’s Alexandre Pantoja makes plans clear if he defeats Joshua Van

Alexandre Pantoja has clear plans if he can earn another successful title defense at UFC 323.

Pantoja has a young and hungry contender waiting for him in Joshua Van. The two will mix it up in Saturday’s co-main event. Pantoja’s UFC Flyweight Championship will be at stake inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

During a media day session ahead of UFC 323, Pantoja discussed what he hopes to accomplish if he can thwart the challenge of Van (via MMAJunkie).

“I want to be the pound-for-pound (No. 1) – I want to be the best fighter in the world,” Pantoja said. “It’s very tough that I conquer that because we have a lot of good champions right now.

“You have (Islam) Makhachev, Merab (Dvalishvili), (Ilia) Topuria, (Khamzat) Chimaev, (Alex) Pereira, (Alexander) Volkanovski – so many great guys. I think that’s the best time to be a UFC fan, but at the same time, it’s very hard for fighters to get the No. 1 position.”

There has been some debate within the MMA community over whether or not Pantoja gets the proper recognition for being a dominant UFC champion. Van recently told Newsweek Sports that he actually feels Pantoja has been getting the proper credit.

“Yeah, I think so because everybody says he might be the greatest flyweight,” Van said. “I think they do give him the flowers he deserves, ranked No. 5 pound-for-pound or something. That’s pretty high right there.”

If Pantoja emerges victorious on Saturday, it’ll be his fifth successful UFC flyweight title defense. The reigning 125-pound champion has said he doesn’t have plans to move up in weight unless there is a special circumstance.

BJPenn.com will have you covered during fight night for UFC 323. Be sure to join us on the homepage for coverage of the final UFC pay-per-view of 2025 and beyond with the new Paramount+ deal taking effect next year.