Alexandre Pantoja showed up at UFC 317 and showed out. And guess what? The flyweight champion retained his title and set a number of records. After a successful fourth title defense, ‘The Cannibal’ proved that he’s one of the best 125ers ever with another finish to his name as he submitted Kai Kara-France in the third. But it was what happened after the fight that got fans excited, and Joe Rogan was right there at the centre of the commotion.

First of all, the fight community has to give it to Alexandre Pantoja, as he has a record of going 38 fights without getting finished. Not only that, with a total of eight finishes to his name, the champion leads the charge in the flyweight division with the most finishes in divisional history. In addition to that, Pantoja also became the 29th fighter to come out of The Ultimate Fighter to win thirteen or more fights in the Dana White-led promotion.

Well, the fun started in the aftermath of the co-headliner. As Alexandre Pantoja called for the top spot on the pound-for-pound rankings, something that Joe Rogan agreed with, the camera panned to Joshua Van, who was seated at the cageside following his win over former title contender Brandon Royval. Rogan started talking about Pantoja’s next possible opponent when Van came inside the Octagon and briefly faced off against the champion.

Well, the fans seem very interested in the possibility of this matchup between Alexandre Pantoja and Joshua Van, although it’s not official yet. However, they do think that the challenger will have the work cut out for himself. Here’s what they had to say.

Fans want Alexandre Pantoja vs Joshua Van

It was a significant step up in competition for Joshua Van, who’s ranked #12, but shut down a former title contender in a fight for the ages. And the crazy thing is that the Myanmar native is only in his early 20s, as fans on X were surprised to see him get a title shot this young. “Title shot at 23!” Moreover, for the fans, the face-off between Alexandre Pantoja and Van appeared to be a treat for the fans, with one of them claiming, “That was wholesome.” It was then that the fans gave Van a reality check about fighting the Brazilian star.

Just like Kai Kara-France, fans predict a similar fate for Joshua Van, who is a relatively less experienced fighter than Alexandre Pantoja. On that note, a fan added, “He will get his young a– subbed early,” while another fan added, “Van gonna get the same treatment Kai just got. Pantoja’s ground game is just a level above everyone else in the division,” indicating that the Myanmar fighter is nowhere near ‘The Cannibal’s level.

However, the fans envision an exciting matchup between the two aforementioned fighters if Dana White decides to pair them up next. “Pantoja vs Van will be the best fight ever,” while one fan commented, another fan supported the plans for Pantoja vs Van to happen, as the community appeared fed up with the repetitive matchups. “Good. No one wants to see Moreno lose for the 4th time.”

Moreover, they also expressed their displeasure with the UFC CEO for throwing young fighters into the deep end without building them as future stars. In that regard, a fan commented, “It’s mma. Surprises can happen of course but Pantoja will show Van there are levels to this thing. UFC is feeding young promising kids to lions, then complaining they are not developing starts anymore.” Do you agree with this notion? Well, a lot of fans online do.

Just like the aforementioned fans, you might also have an opinion, so let us know what you think about the possibility of watching Joshua Van take on Alexander Pantoja next in the comments down below.