‘Absolutely Sickening’ – Fighters & Fans Left In Shock As Alexandre Pantoja Arm Injury Leads To Joshua Van Becoming Flyweight Champion At UFC 323

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In one of the most shocking moments in UFC title history, Alexadre Pantoja suffers a broken arm in less than 30 seconds, making Joshua Van the new UFC flyweight champion in the co-main event of UFC 323.

Pantoja came out with his traditional aggressive style, trying to bring the striking pressure to Van. Van would catch a kick and dump Pantoja to the floor — and that was the moment the fight ended.

Pantoja landed on his arm when being pushed down to the mat, resulting in what appeared to be a nasty break to end the title fight.

Joshua Van Claims Flyweight Title At UFC 323 After Alexandre Pantoja Breaks Arm

Holy smokes.Pantoja’s arm breaks as he lands in the first few seconds and the fight is off. Josh Van is the new champ.Absolutely sickening. Don’t watch the footage. It’s awful.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 7, 2025

Awful. Completely gutted for Pantoja, and surely not the way Joshua Van wanted to be crowned champion. Sucks, man. #UFC323

— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohn) December 7, 2025

Wowww crazy

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) December 7, 2025

Van is the man! H town stand up Texas lFG

— Kevin Holland (@Trailblaze2top) December 7, 2025

I wish that Van vs Pantoja fight was aloud to keep going. It should be up to us as the fighter if we want to continue after that. We put the time in the training camp in that situation. People dislocate their arms and put it back in place and keep fighting all the time.#UFC323

— Dominick Cruz (@DominickCruz) December 7, 2025

Man stop the replay! #UFC323

— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) December 7, 2025

His poor kids are freaking out. Just terrible. #UFC323

— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) December 7, 2025

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow. Talk about the most insane way for a reigning champion like Pantoja to lose the title. Absolutely disgusting.

— Drake Riggs (@DrakeRiggs_) December 7, 2025

Damn. That's a shame. Feel for Pantoja. Part of the game, but not the way anyone wants to see a belt change hands.

— Chuck Mindenhall (@ChuckMindenhall) December 7, 2025

Pantoja dislocates his elbow and Joshua Van is now the 2nd youngest male champion in UFC history in mere seconds.This sport will never cease to surprise you.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) December 7, 2025

Ending one of the greatest runs in UFC history like this sucks. Feel horrible for Alexandre Pantoja. #UFC323 pic.twitter.com/TYMg9tinnY

— Zach “🅂🄲🄷🅄🅉” Schumaker (@ZachSchumaker) December 7, 2025

‘Absolutely Sickening’ – Fighters & Fans Left In Shock As Alexandre Pantoja Arm Injury Leads To Joshua Van Becoming Flyweight Champion At UFC 323

Van is 9-1 in the Octagon, and this marked his sixth straight win. This completes an epic 2025 for Van after a decision win over Rei Tsuruya at UFC 313, a finish of Bruno Silva at UFC 316, and a Fight of the Year with Brandon Royval at UFC 317.

Pantoja’s title reign began at UFC 290, defeating Brandon Moreno. He defended the title four times, defeating Royval at UFC 296, Steve Erceg at UFC 301, Kai Asakura at UFC 310, and Kai Kara-France at UFC 317.

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