Van captured the title at UFC 323 after Pantoja suffered an elbow injury just 26 seconds into the opening round. Since then, Van has successfully defended the flyweight crown in spectacular fashion, earning a fifth-round TKO victory over Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328 in May.
Before losing the belt, Pantoja defended the flyweight title four times against Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, Kai Asakura and Kai Kara-France. The 36-year-old now looks to become just the third flyweight in UFC history to reclaim the championship, joining Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo.
