The UFC Men's flyweight title: A visual history
· Yahoo Sports
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Say this much for Joshua Van: He is keeping things interesting.
The 24-year-old Texan challenged Alexandre Pantoja for the Ultimate Fighting Championship men’s flyweight belt last December at UFC 323, winning by TKO in just 26 seconds when the champ suffered an arm injury. Pantoja entered that bout on a string of four straight title defenses, and as the most dominant 125-pounder since Demetrious Johnson, earned the benefit of the doubt in the eyes of many fans, who preferred to wait for a rematch before according Van the status of baddest man in the division.
With Pantoja unable to return to action for an immediate rematch, Van made his first title defense at UFC 328 earlier this month, facing Tatsuro Taira. While they put on a sensational scrap, easily upstaging the bizarre Khamzat Chimaev-Sean Strickland middleweight title fight that followed it, there was once again controversy, as the fifth-round TKO stoppage came when the challenger was hurt but still defending himself, and Taira protested immediately.
While Taira may have a legitimate gripe with the ruling—and Van surely would love a “normal” finish at some point—there is plenty of positive to take away from the UFC 328 co-headliner. Most notably, Van and Taira both acquitted themselves extremely well in that fight and, at age 24 and 26 respectively, it isn’t hard to picture them meeting again (and again, and again) with UFC gold on the line. Just a few years removed from the Brandon Moreno-Deiveson Figueiredo era, perhaps this is when we find out that going forward, 125 pounds is going to be the “epic rivalry” division.
Here is the nearly 15-year history of the UFC men’s flyweight title and the times it was won, lost or defended. It tells the story of a division that was on life support just a few short years ago, but has bounced back to become one of the most exciting and dynamic in all of MMA.
Ben Duffy/Sherdog.com illustration
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