Newark — Josh Van had a message for ex-flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja when he learned the Brazilian was gearing up for a return, and to fight him again: go get some milk.
After Saturday’s UFC 328, where Van defeated Tatsuro Taira in a thrilling Fight of the Night flyweight title fight, he doubled down on that message. “Yes, yes, he better go get some milk.”
Speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, Van admitted that, after Pantoja broke his arm in their first fight, he felt “bad. I told him, I walked up to him, because when I was celebrating I didn’t know his arm was like that.”
Things were cordial between the two at the time. These days, Pantoja appears a little more agitated it seems. “He’s saying a lot of sh*t now, I don’t know what’s up with him,” Van stated. “I saw him yesterday, there’s no hate from me. I talked to him, I shake his hand but I don’t know what he’s got in his head, man.”
Van (17-2), who was born in Myanmar but grew up in Texas, is on a remarkable run, having won seven straight fights. He admitted following UFC 328 that his victory over Taira was more satisfying than the one over Pantoja, given the way it ended. “A win is a win, but this one is so much sweeter, just because, I wouldn’t want to wish [that] on my worst enemy. This is so much sweeter for sure.”
While the current trend seems to be champs relinquishing their titles in favor of moving up to claim a second, Josh Van intends to stick around flyweight for a while. The title defense record set by Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, which stands at 11, isn’t exactly the goal however.
“The record is the record. That was the old time, now it’s the new generation of fighting. So I think it’s a little different now,” suggested Van.
Watch the full UFC 328 post-fight press conference with Josh Van above.
