‘The Fearless’ Flyweight’s Rematch with Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331
Ladies and gentlemen of the UFC, a title fight is to take place for the title of Champion for the Men’s Flyweight Division this upcoming Saturday at 9:00 p.m. EDT. The event is UFC 331, and it will take place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The fighters competing for the title are defending champion Joshua Van and contender Alexandre Pantoja. Both fighters have had great success before this fight, with multiple wins across multiple bouts. Even more than that, these fighters have faced each other before, with Van coming out on top! Their careers also differ: Pantoja is 30-6-0, while Van is 17-2-0.
Van, also known as ‘The Fearless ’, is currently 24 years old. He has won all five of his previous fights. He has won over half of his fights by knockout, including his last fight against Pantoja. Altogether, this makes him a dangerous fighter when on his feet. Off his feet, he has secured two submissions from takedowns. Even though he is not as experienced as Pantoja, ‘The Fearless’ is a monster when striking, as he lands 8.43 strikes per minute on average. This average far exceeds his opponent’s, but he is absorbing 5.82 strikes per minute. He will need to be cautious to keep that number from rising. However, he is scoring a higher defensive score while standing and while defending against takedowns.
Pantoja, known as ‘The Cannibal ’, is currently 36 years old. He looks to be the more experienced grappler between the two, with almost half of his wins coming from submissions. As a result, he scores 1.0 submission on average every 15 minutes of a fight. This may be because he also lands 2.79 takedowns every 15 minutes. In fact, he won two of his five previous bouts from submissions alone. He could carry this fight against the 24-year-old fighter to a decision from takedowns, which would limit the time spent standing. However, that strategy led to his knockout in the fifth round in his last fight with Van.
‘The Fearless’ is looking to win the fight by knockout when crowd statistics are factored in. It makes sense since the Men’s Flyweight Champion has built his fight career from decisive knockout victories. He can even defend against the vast majority of takedown attempts his 36-year-old opponent will be making. If he does not, he could be dominated during portions of the second and third rounds. This will allow ‘The Cannibal’ to get in well-placed strikes that could put him ahead in a unanimous decision.
The Brazilian flyweight would create a major upset if he did win for all who’ve placed their bets on his 24-year-old opponent. That is unlikely to happen. The Myanmar-born fighter is too well-versed in defending against the takedown attempts he will see from ‘The Cannibal’, and he will get more strikes in because of this. The fight could hit the mat at times, but it won't stay there. Furthermore, it puts the 36-year-old challenger in a dangerous place because he’ll be put into close-quarters strikes each time, such as hammer fists or elbows. To see what strike will come from where and who will hold the title, stream UFC 331 through Paramount+!
