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Joshua Van advised Alexandre Pantoja to 'go get some milk' following their previous fight where Pantoja suffered a serious arm injury. Van recently defended his title against Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328, winning by fifth-round TKO.
Joshua Van sends message to Alexandre Pantoja: 'Go get some milk'
NEWARK, N.J. – Joshua Van is a man of few words, but he does have some advice for his former foe Alexandre Pantoja.
Van and Pantoja fought in December when Pantoja was the defending UFC flyweight champion, and Van the challenger. The bout lasted less than 30 seconds. Pantoja suffered a bad arm injury when he tried to kick Van. The kick was caught, and he was pushed back. As Pantoja tried to break his fall, his arm bent the wrong way.
Saturday, Van (17-2 MMA, 10-1 UFC) defended the title he took from him against Tatsuro Taira (18-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) in the co-main event of UFC 328. Van stopped Taira with a fifth-round TKO. He was the underdog in the fight to the challenger.
Pantoja has been recovering and rehabbing his injury. Now he seems to be ready to go, and Van is still champion. A rematch between the two is expected to be next, and Van had a few words for the Brazilian after his big win.
"Yes, you better go get some milk, man," Van said at the UFC 328 post-fight press conference.
There seems to be growing tension between Van and Pantoja. Although it's not even close to the level of Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland, the two have had a small back and forth in the media.
"I walked up to him because when I was celebrating, I didn't know his arm was like that," Van said. "After I saw his arm on the screen, I walked up to him. I said, 'Sorry.' He says, 'Sorry,' this and that, the next thing you know, he waited three months, and then he came and do little interviews. His 'Panocha' hurt, so he’s saying a lot of sh*t now, so I don't know what's up with him.
"I saw him yesterday. There's no hate from me. I talked to him. I shook his hand, but I don't know what he's got in his head."
Regardless of what's been said, Van wishes Pantoja luck in his final stages of his recovery and looks forward to a second fight between the two.
"The Pantoja fight, I wouldn't wish that on my own enemy," Van said.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Joshua Van sends message to Alexandre Pantoja: 'Go get some milk'
In their fight, Alexandre Pantoja suffered a severe arm injury after attempting a kick, which led to a quick stoppage.
Joshua Van successfully defended his title against Tatsuro Taira, winning by TKO in the fifth round.
The fight ended in less than 30 seconds due to Pantoja's injury, resulting in Van's victory.
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