Among the many reasons why Saturday's flyweight title rematch between former champion Alexandre Pantoja and new beltholder Joshua Van has become such a must-see attraction as the headliner of UFC 331 in Los Angeles is the surprising amount of bad blood that has developed between them.
Last December, Pantoja (30-6) entered as nearly a 3-to-1 betting favorite against Van (17-2) at UFC 323 in a fight that ended abruptly after just 26 seconds when the Brazilian legend was thrown to the ground following a blocked high kick and dislocated his left elbow.
Van, a 24-year-old rising star from Myanmar, was respectful and remained humble following his first-round TKO win. But his demeanor has changed dramatically in the 10 months since that fight as Van, who defended the title in a thrilling fifth-round TKO of Tatsuro Taira in May, is clearly feeling himself now as champion as he enters as a slight betting favorite for this 125-pound title rematch inside Crypto.com Arena.
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When the fight was officially announced during an August press conference in Philadelphia, Van climbed the stairs up to the dais wearing dark sunglasses indoors, which has become a key part of his new aura as champion sporting a newfound level of confidence that blurs the line between cockiness.
"What's done is done and I'm going to whoop his ass Sept. 19," Van said to kickoff the press conference. "Had that [injury] not happened, I would've still whooped his ass that day. [Saturday] is just another opportunity for me to whoop his ass again.
"He mad, he big mad. He mad that I got his belt. Look at him. It looks good on me."
The 36-year-old Pantoja, whose name has become synonymous with the humility and hard work that define his reputation following a late career renaissance that saw him become flyweight champion in 2023 and make four title defenses to climb the sport's pound-for-pound list, remained calm at first in the face of Van's new level of brashness as he administered a warning.
"First, I think he need to wash his mouth," Pantoja said. "I respect where I'm from and in Brazil, you need to care about what you talk. If you not, maybe you lose your teeth. I lose my belt, he's the champion of the world. But like a man, he did not beat me."
But when Van began to bait Pantoja shortly after by constantly interrupting his answers by talking over the former champion with insults, the demeanor of "The Cannibal" took a hard left turn.
"Hey kid, when someone talks, you shut the f---ing mouth," Pantoja said. "You understand that?"
"What are you going to do about it?" Van replied.
Surprisingly, Pantoja leapt from his seat to approach Van and needed to be held back by UFC CEO and president Dana White as the temperature surrounding this rematch continued to heat up.
"Sit your ass down, you ain't doing shit," Van said. "Somebody get him some milk."
"Learn how to respect and shut your mouth," Pantoja fired back.
It remains to be seen whether the injection of emotion into the fight will become a positive or negative for Pantoja, who remains the only men's flyweight in UFC history to win a title fight after turning 35. But Pantoja was asked about that potential just minutes later and attempted to downplay just how much Van was getting under his skin.
"Bro, outside the Octagon, it's different," Pantoja said. "Inside, I'm a Pantoja. I'm a 'Cannibal.' I know what I need to do. I feel more nervous here [at the press conference] than in the Octagon, you can be sure of that. It's still new to me, speaking English.
"Nothing about Joshua Van surprises me. He tried to make this chatter and tried to be the tough guy. But what I see, he's just an afraid cat. He's just afraid. It's not personal for me, this is business."
Should Van, who moved to Houston as a teenager, go on to win the rematch and remove any lingering remaining talk of him being a paper champion, it's a wonder as to whether we will look back at his baiting of Pantoja as a bit of masterful mental warfare from such a young fighter.
Van continued to press Pantoja's buttons during their faceoff outside the arena to kick off fight week when he repeatedly laughed in the face of his opponent before tapping the flyweight title hanging over his shoulder and saying, "It looks good, right?"
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Thursday's final press conference was more tame than their initial war of words in August but still saw Van poking the bear enough to leave Pantoja confused by his behavior.
"I don't understand because sometimes [Van] says I'm the best and sometimes he says that he's going to beat me," Pantoja said. "In his mind, he said that he beat me the first time. It is what it is. Saturday night, he will have the chance to prove that."
Van added some parting shots before a tense faceoff closed off Thursday's proceedings.
"I can't wait. In two days, I get to whoop his ass again," Van said. "He was the greatest of all-time until he fought me. As far as I checked, he don't really like me but I don't give a f---. We are going to fight [on Saturday] and I'm going to show the world that I'm a level above him.
"There's no if. When I beat him, I am the greatest of all-time in this flyweight [division]."
For as talented as both flyweight fighters are in Saturday's main event, it's going to be difficult for anyone to eclipse the legacy, especially from an accomplishment standpoint, of inaugural 125-pound champion Demetrious Johnson, the Hall-of-Famer who still holds the promotional record for consecutive title defenses with 11. But whether or not Van omitted his name on purpose, it's clear that he believes he holds a mental edge over Pantoja entering their second fight and has seemingly enjoyed getting a rise out of his foe.
"Pantoja was posting a lot of shit [in April] saying he was ready to go and things like that," Van told CBS Sports in August. "Now, we gave him a couple months and now he's 100%, so I don't want to hear, when I beat him, about injuries or things like that. He did say he was ready five months ago and now he had another five months to heal up. I think he's more hungry than ever to get that belt off me.
"It's going to be a great fight for as long as it lasts but I'm going to finish him inside of three rounds."
