Alexandre Pantoja Suffers Gruesome Elbow Injury as Joshua Van Wins Title at UFC 323

Joshua Van is the new UFC flyweight champion after Alexandre Pantoja suffered an elbow injury in the first round in the UFC 323 co-main event from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Unfortunately, fans didn't get to see much action as the freak injury happened in the opening exchange. Pantoja threw a head kick and he suffered the apparent arm injury as he was trying to catch himself from falling.

The win makes Van the youngest champion in flyweight division history at just 24 years old. He's only one year younger than Jon Jones was when he became the UFC's youngest champion at 23 years old.

There will be questions about the legitimacy of his title until he gets to fight Pantoja again, but there's no denying that Van's run has been historic.

Van is a young champion, but he put in the cage time to get his shot at the belt. He's 9-1 since making his UFC debut in June 2023 giving him a lot of experience in just over two years.

Pantoja was a successful flyweight champion, but Van believes that he's the beginning of a new era.

"It ain't too soon, it's perfect timing," Van said ahead of the fight, per CBS Sports' Brian Campbell. "I'm just well prepared. I'm very, very excited for this fight, bringing in the new era of fighters. Pantoja has done what he has done but now I feel like it's time for the new fighters." 

Given the circumstances, a rematch is the most likely path forward.

Pantoja has put together enough title defenses and he lost due to injury. However, Tatsuro Taira also made a significant case for the next title shot with a win over Brandon Moreno on the UFC 323 main card.