A split-second decision is all it took to change the course of Alexandre Pantoja’s title reign, and now months later, he’s still replaying it in his mind. The former flyweight champion entered his fight against Joshua Van on the back of a dominant 8-fight win streak, with multiple title defenses and momentum firmly on his side.

Statistically, he was one of the most active champions in the division, consistently going deep into five-round fights and building a case as an all-time great at 125lbs. But at UFC 323, that rhythm broke almost instantly. Just 26 seconds in, a blocked high kick led to a scramble, a fall, and a dislocated elbow.

The fight was stopped, the belt changed hands, and suddenly a run that had taken years to build was over in less than a minute. Recently, speaking to Ariel Helwani, Pantoja questioned the decision he made in that moment.

“But I know 100 % that’s the destiny of Joshua Van wins belt, and I know when I hurt my arm and he stopped a little bit, he know I hurt my arm, you know,” Pantoja said. “And then when he understand, I start to put my arm back, to back to the fight. And then he understand I need, I need to try to punch Pantoja because Pantoja come back. But in that point, you know, I trained MMA all my life, and I know if I try to fight with my arm dislocation like that, can be worse to me, and then I’m gonna take a lot of time to be back,  and then I say to stop the fight.”

“And the time I say to stop the fight, my arm back to the position and I say, oh my God, why I stopped the fight. And that’s what’s happened, you know.  I think Joshua feel my kick in the head and he make a good movement to try to catch and put me out. But I know 100 % his celebration  (was) because he don’t fight with me, you know. I don’t know, 99.9 % my soul believe I beat Joshua Van that night.”

That’s the part that lingers. Not the loss itself, but the timing of the decision. Because in fights decided by margins, even seconds matter. And here, the difference between continuing and stopping may have been just that.

Alexandre Pantoja also admitted he had minor injuries during his training camp, nothing unusual at this level, but nothing related to the arm. The injury itself wasn’t predictable. The decision after it, though, is something he’s still processing. There’s also a mindset shift in how he’s approaching things now.

‘The Cannibal’ spoke about ego, about chasing pound-for-pound status, and how that drive pushed him back into training almost immediately after the loss. No extended break, no reset. Just back to work, and his return might be coming sooner than fans may have expected!

Alexandre Pantoja’s return timeline laid out by his coach

That timeline started taking shape as early as February. Just two months removed from the injury, Pantoja was already back doing light sparring, having luckily avoided surgery to repair the damage to his arm. His coach, Marcos da Matta, didn’t sound surprised by the pace. If anything, he framed it as typical in an interview with Sherdog.

Da Matta made it clear that while progress is fast, full recovery still matters. The expectation? At least a couple more months to regain strength in that arm.

“Everybody was able to see how hard the injury was, two months ago. But Pantoja is such a focused person, he worked hard to heal since day one. He can’t wait to return and [get a finish] against Joshua Van,” da Matta said. “If he returns [in] May, the revenge must be done.”

And the timing could line up. Joshua Van is currently scheduled to defend his title against Tatsuro Taira in April at UFC 327. That creates two clear paths. If Van retains, the rematch is right there, and Alexandre Pantoja could end up fighting to answer that one lingering question he’s been replaying ever since.