UFC Rio has been nothing short of spectacular so far. As the event moves closer to the main card, the prelim fighters have already delivered an incredible show for the crowd inside the Farmasi Arena. However, while the fighters have been creating jaw-dropping moments with their fists, one competitor decided to steal the spotlight in a different way, by making a groundbreaking announcement. 

In the prelims, American fighter Michael Aswell faced Brazil’s Lucas Almeida. Fans who followed the weigh-ins already knew that Almeida entered the fight with a broken hand. From the opening bell, the Brazilian looked visibly compromised by the injury, and soon, Aswell turned up the pressure, scoring a first-round knockout victory. While the result wasn’t too surprising, what came next certainly was. During his Octagon interview, ‘The Texas Kid’ dropped a major bombshell, revealing that Joshua Van will challenge Alexandre Pantoja this December at UFC 323.

Yes, you heard that right! Van is finally getting his well-deserved title shot after defeating Brandon Royval. And ‘The Texas Kid’ broke the news right in front of the world before Dana White could make the official announcement. At the octagon interview, he said, “I just saw it got announced that Las Vegas December 06, my best friend Joshua Van is fighting. I would love to be on his card, man. He’s fighting Pantoja for the championship, and we can get on that card man.”  

Although the UFC has yet to make it official, it’s all but confirmed that Alexandre Pantoja will return to face Joshua Van to defend his flyweight title for the second time this year. However, there’s a high possibility that this fight won’t headline UFC 323, as another superstar could claim that spot.  

Alexander Volkanovski might return at UFC 323  

UFC 323 on December 6 will likely mark the last PPV under the ESPN era. Because of that, both the promotion and the broadcaster will aim to make it as grand as possible, with Paramount+ CBS taking over from January 2026. While Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van promises an exciting main event, Dana White might want the featherweight champion to close out the year’s card in style.

Alexander Volkanovski faced Diego Lopes at UFC 314 in Miami. After five grueling rounds, ‘The Great’ emerged victorious, reclaiming the 145 lbs crown after losing it to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298, while also breaking the 35-year curse. Since becoming a two-time featherweight champion, speculation about who would be the Aussie’s next opponent has already started making the rounds.  

Well, Lopes has made his case once again for a possible rematch against ‘The Great’ after finishing Fighting Nerd’s Jean Silva at the UFC Noche Fight Night event. However, most likely, it will be Lerone Murphy who gets the next shot at the champion. After the undefeated Brit brutally knocked out MMA’s hottest prospect Aaron Pico at UFC 319, Volkanovski and Murphy verbally agreed on X to fight in December, and the promotion may move in that direction.

If both fights end up headlining the year-end event, UFC fans will be in for a treat. Now, imagine Paddy Pimblett returning against Max Holloway as well — that would make for an incredible fight card. That said, do you think the UFC will structure their card in a banger way? Let us know in the comments section.