On Wednesday ahead of his return at UFC 323, flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja was the 85th recipient of a letterman jacket celebrating 50 clean drug tests under the UFC’s Anti-Doping Program.
As Jeff Novitzky, UFC Senior VP of Athlete Health and Performance pointed out, while many fighters have been celebrated for their clean test history, few are among the conversation as the greatest in their weight class, as Pantoja is.
It has been four defenses of his flyweight title now for Brazil’s Pantoja, and while he’s still well behind Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, “The Cannibal” is the GOAT in the eyes of his current opponent, Joshua Van.
Pantoja (30-5) was equally complimentary of Van on Wednesday. “He’s looking amazing. 2025 is a great year for him. What a good journey,” he stated during the UFC 323 media day. “I think he’s inspiring a lot of this young generation. A lot of guys seeking the UFC belts, not too far, if you make very good work. And Josh makes that. He’s been inspiring a lot of guys from this new generation, especially the guys born in the 2000s.”
Noting that he’s happy to face someone “young and hungry” like Van, Pantoja added that he’s not looking at Saturday as a title defense.
“When you talk about, do a fight for the belt, I have a chance to fight for the belt one more time. That’s my mindset all the time. I do not go Saturday night to defend anything, I go to conquer another belt. And when you fight for the belt, you need to think about, you’re in prime time. I finished a lot of guys to make this moment happen for me, and I know I’m going to fight with the best Joshua Van.”
Comparing the UFC 323 co-main event to Van’s short-notice fight with Brandon Royval, Pantoja noted that “I know I’m going to fight with someone much better than who fought with Royval that night.”
A fifth title defense should bump Alexandre Pantoja up the pound-for-pound list, where he sits at #5, behind fighters with fewer title defenses. That said, Pantoja understands the field he’s competing with for that particular honor.
“I want to be the pound-for-pound, I want to be the best fighter of the world,” he stated. “It’s very tough, to conquer that, because you 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 it’s the best time to be a UFC fan, but at the same time, it’s hard for fighters to get this number one position.”
Pantoja would go on to note how well those names have been performing of late. “I feel very happy to be part of that club. The best guys, the best fighters in the world. And what I want Saturday night is to the prove I’m the best one. That’s what I try to follow, that’s one of my goals.”
Watch the full UFC 323 media day appearance by Alexandre Pantoja above. The flyweight champ faces Joshua Van in the co-main event of UFC 323 in Las Vegas this Saturday, December 6, 2025.
