Already one of many pound-for-pound greatest within the sport, UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja continued to show on Saturday that he is in some way getting higher with age.
Pantoja (30-5), the 35-year-old from Brazil, dominated Kai Kara-France on the bottom earlier than submitting him in Spherical 3 by way of rear-naked choke within the co-main occasion of a UFC 317 pay-per-view card from T-Cell Enviornment in Las Vegas.
The victory, which marked Pantoja’s fourth protection of his 125-pound title, additionally additional established his identify within the UFC flyweight file books as he moved into first place for probably the most victories (14), finishes (8) and submissions (6) within the division’s historical past.
Similar to within the opening spherical, Pantoja opened Spherical 3 by speeding Kara-France (25-12, 1 NC) with a flurry of strikes so as to again him up into the cage, From there, Pantoja took his opponent down and immediately took his again with a physique triangle earlier than slowing working his method into the choke.
Pantoja, who has by no means been stopped in his 35-bout professional profession, recorded his twelfth profession submission total and his ninth by way of rear-naked choke.
“I’m all the time coaching for this place however I nonetheless am evolving,” Pantoja stated. “I come from American Prime Crew, which is the most effective group on the planet. That is my fourth title protection, I feel I deserve a greater rating within the pound-for-pound.”
Pantoja hasn’t simply advanced his health into world-class form since profitable the title, he has change into way more environment friendly and assured in his assault. The champion visibly took his foot off the fuel in an in depth Spherical 2 however nonetheless rallied to again Kara-France up within the remaining minute with kicks to the physique, together with one which left a vivid pink blotch on his opponent’s midsection.
Kara-France, a 32-year-old from New Zealand, was combating for simply the third time since 2022 however secured the title shot based mostly on his first-round knockout of former title challenger Steve Erceg final August. Kara-France, who misplaced for the third time in his final 4 fights, benefitted from the truth that Panotja entered 2025 with a 9-0 file in opposition to flyweights ranked within the prime 10.
After the win, Pantoja squared off with 23-year-old upstart Joshua Van, who scored probably the most spectacular win of his younger profession earlier within the night time when he outpointed No. 1 contender Brandon Royval in a struggle of the 12 months contender. Van (15-2), who stopped Bruno Silva simply three weeks in the past at UFC 316, crammed in on late discover for an injured Manel Kape to safe a shot at Pantoja’s title.
“[Van] is a humble man, he deserves a shot on the title subsequent,” Pantoja stated.
“[Pantoja] is a superb champion however he ain’t by no means fought Joshua Van,” Van stated.