Joshua Van Jumps to No. 3 Pound-for-Pound at 24 After Beating Pantoja

Joshua Van is 24 years old, holds the UFC flyweight belt, and just cracked the top three of the pound-for-pound rankings. After outworking Alexandre Pantoja across five rounds in the UFC 331 main event, Van rocketed from No. 11 all the way to No. 3 — an eight-spot leap that puts him behind only Islam Makhachev and Petr Yan.

This wasn't a fluke or an asterisk win. Pantoja, now 30-7 (8 KO, 12 SUB), is a future Hall of Famer with 12 career submissions to his name. Van beat him twice — first for the title last December, then again on Saturday. The first meeting ended awkwardly when Pantoja suffered a severe elbow dislocation, so this was the clean, definitive answer everyone wanted. Van gave it.

Why the Jump Is Legitimate

The knock on the December result was that we never got a proper fight. Fair enough. But you can't argue with a full 25 minutes. Van set the pace, controlled the exchanges, and left no doubt about who the better man was on the night. Two dominant defenses over a champion of Pantoja's caliber is the kind of resume line that moves the P4P needle fast.

The math ahead is interesting too. Yan sits at No. 2 heading into a trilogy bout with Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333 on Oct. 24. If Yan stumbles, Van could slide to No. 2 without throwing a punch. And with Makhachev's competitive future uncertain, the ceiling gets even higher. Only Demetrious Johnson has ever held the flyweight-and-P4P-No.-1 combination — Van is putting himself in that conversation.

The Road Doesn't Get Easier

Next up is likely Manel Kape, the former RIZIN standout who has the striking and physicality to derail this whole thing. That's the reality of being a young champion: every title defense is a landmine. Van clears Kape and the runway opens up for a genuinely special run.

Elsewhere on the card, Arman Tsarukyan reminded everyone why he's a problem at 155, blitzing Mauricio Ruffy with a first-round knockout that all but locks in a lightweight title shot. And former flyweight champ Alexa Grasso is back in the top 10 at No. 3 in her division, now 18-5-1, after a clear decision over Manon Fiorot. With Valentina Shevchenko out of the mix, Grasso's timing couldn't be better.