Joshua Van just defended his UFC flyweight title at UFC 331, and somehow, the biggest talking point from the fight isn’t even the champion. It’s the judge who scored it 50-45.

‘The Fearless’ got the better of Alexandre Pantoja over five rounds at UFC 331 on Saturday night, finally putting a proper full-stop on their rivalry after their first meeting ended in bizarre fashion. But while Van walked out with his belt still around his waist, one scorecard had fans scratching their heads and wondering what, exactly, that judge was watching.

And honestly, the rematch couldn’t have been more different from their first fight. When Van and Pantoja first met in December 2025, the fight barely got started before an injury forced an early TKO. ‘The Cannibal’ hurt his arm during an early fall, leaving fans with more questions than answers about who would actually come out on top if the two men ever got a full 25 minutes together.

This time, there were no such doubts.

Pantoja came out looking like he had zero interest in letting Van settle into the fight.

The former champion immediately went after the grappling, scoring an early takedown before eventually working his way into mount. From there, ‘The Cannibal’ controlled Van, dropped elbows, and kept the pressure on until the champion finally managed to escape.

Van had a few moments on the feet, but Pantoja refused to let him stay comfortable. He kept mixing up his attacks, chaining strikes into takedowns and digging knees into the reigning champion’s body. With just 30 seconds left, the 36-year-old put Van back on the canvas and quickly returned to mount, giving himself a pretty strong case for the opening round.

Round 2 was a different story. ‘The Fearless’ started finding his range, landing the cleaner combinations and doing a much better job of shutting down Pantoja’s takedown attempts. A clash of heads opened up a cut around Pantoja’s eye, adding another wrinkle to the fight.

Pantoja did manage to take Van’s back late in the round, but by then, Van’s sharper work on the feet had helped him claw his way back into the fight.

‘The Fearless’ kept the momentum rolling in Round 3. His speed was giving the former champion all kinds of problems, with Van repeatedly catching the former champion with crisp counters whenever he tried to close the distance. Pantoja did manage to get another takedown, but Van popped right back up and went straight back to landing clean, damaging shots.

‘The Cannibal’ changed things up again in Round 4, leaning heavily into his grappling. He landed a combination finished with a head kick before dragging Van to the mat, where he spent much of the round working from side control and guard.

The problem? He couldn’t do much with it. Despite controlling the position for long stretches, Pantoja struggled to land anything truly damaging from the top, leaving the door wide open for the 24-year-old heading into the final round.

And Van kicked that door down. Early in Round 5, the champion landed a huge right hand that dropped Pantoja, then immediately followed him to the canvas and started unloading with ground strikes. Van even briefly hunted for a kimura before abandoning it and going right back to throwing bombs.

‘The Cannibal’ survived, but Van refused to let up. By the time the final horn sounded, the champion had put together his biggest round of the fight.

Then came the scorecards. Van got the job done at UFC 331, with the judges handing him a 49-46, 49-47 and 50-45 decision to successfully retain his flyweight title.

The win also pushed Van’s winning streak to eight straight fights, with five of those victories coming by unanimous decision and three of his recent wins coming by KO/TKO.

But the decision itself wasn’t really what had people talking. It was that 50-45 scorecard. It simply meant five rounds for ‘The Fearless.’ Not a single round for Pantoja.

And almost immediately, fans started wondering how one judge could have seen the fight that way.

Fans are appalled by the 50-45 scorecard at UFC 331’s main event

There was little disagreement among fans that Joshua Van deserved to leave UFC 331 with the championship. The controversy centred on whether the fight was remotely close to being a clean sweep.

One fan summed up the reaction simply, writing, “Fire the 50-45 judge,” while another admitted, “Thought Joshua Van clearly won that, but 50-45? And all 3 judges with a different score – hilarious sport.”

Another commenter called the scorecard “a crazy scorecard lmfao”, while one fan pointed out that Van clearly won the second, third and fifth rounds on the Verdict Scorecard but argued that “50-45 feels wide”.

The disbelief continued, with one commenter simply asking, “50-45?????” while another questioned which judge could have scored it that way, writing, “Which judge had it 50-45!? That’s crazy.”

For some fans, the issue went beyond this particular fight. One commenter argued that the judging throughout the night had been poor, claiming that while the judges generally picked the correct winners, “if you study the scorecards, the judges were absolute trash tonight.”

Others felt Pantoja had clearly done enough to take at least one or two rounds. “The 50-45 card is suspect; Pantoja definitely won a round or two,” one fan wrote, while another said the fight should have been scored “at least 49-46.”

The strongest reactions were even more incredulous. One fan asked, “Absolute madness, did we watch the same fight?” while another jokingly demanded, “Shut the arena down! Find this judge!”

The 50-45 scorecard may have stolen some of the spotlight, but Joshua Van still has the belt. So now, the big question is who’s next for the champion?

Well, one name already hanging around the title picture is Manel Kape.
Kape just made another statement at UFC Vegas 119, stopping Kyoji Horiguchi in the third round to avenge their 2017 RIZIN meeting. The win also pushed the 32-year-old’s UFC flyweight knockout total to six.

And he’s got some big wins under his name already. ‘StarBoy’ has previously stopped Brandon Royval, giving him a pretty solid case for why he should be next in line for Van’s belt.

So it’s no surprise that Manel Kape thinks he’s already done more than enough to earn that shot.

“It was enough,” Kape said about the Horiguchi win back in June. “Even last time when I fought Brandon Royval, it was enough. Everything what I do in the cage, it was enough.

“Because I delivered the spectacular [knockout]. I finish the guys.”

Still, Manel Kape wasn’t exactly banging down the UFC’s door demanding a title shot. Instead, the flyweight contender made it clear that he wants to step away for a bit, handle some personal business and actually enjoy some time with his family and friends.

“But let them fight,” he talked about Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja’s UFC 331 clash. “I need to take some time off. Take care of business, chill out with family, see my friends.

“I just want to rest a little bit.”

That leaves Joshua Van’s next challenger up in the air. If ‘StarBoy’ is ready to return, he has already put together a strong case. If not, another contender could have a chance to jump into the picture.

For now, Van gets to enjoy another successful title defense. Although that 50-45 scorecard might keep stealing the spotlight for a little while longer.