Joshua Van suffered major injury month before UFC 331

Joshua Van had to reach down deep to beat Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331, and the road to the fight was just as precarious.

Saturday’s main event in Los Angeles saw the flyweight champion emerge victorious after an exciting five-round battle with Pantoja, further cementing Van as one of the UFC’s future stars. Van previously won the title when their first fight ended with Pantoja suffering a freak injury in the opening moments of the contest, and has now successfully defended it twice with wins over Pantoja and Tatsuro Taira.

At the evening’s post-fight press conference, Van revealed he suffered a major injury a little over a month before the Pantoja rematch.

“Coming into this fight, after the press conference in Philly, I tore my AC join in my right shoulder and I couldn’t even spar,” Van said. “So the last two weeks was my first time sparring and this camp we do nothing but cardio, just running and stuff like that. I’ve got to go back there and get MRIs and get checked up, so hopefully nothing major.”

Van’s timetable for his next title defense remains unclear, as does his opponent, though the clear front-runner is top contender Manel Kape. Asked if he expects to fight Kape, Van said he’s open to anything the matchmakers put in front of him.

The 24-year-old champion received a mental boost earlier Saturday when he watched Michael Aswell win a decision over Joo Sang Yoo. Van and Aswell trained together for UFC 331 and both battled injuries en route to a successful night.

“Man, Aswell being in the same camp is a motivation for me,” Van said. “Like I said, I just came back from my injury to spar my first time, and he hurt his f*cking rib and we’re like, f*ck that, we ain’t pulling out. So both of us are injured coming into this fight and you know, g*ddammit, we push through it.”

Though Van was still gathering his emotions after his epic fight with Pantoja, there was one word that came to mind when he was asked for his initial thoughts on the win.

“I feel pain,” Van said. “Nah man, like I said, Pantoja is a great fighter. He’s one of the greatest of all-time in my eyes. Fighting him five rounds like that, I’m grateful for that.”