Pantoja needs mental and physical rest after Van rematch loss, coach confirms no return timetable

Alexandre Pantoja is without a return date following his unanimous decision loss to Joshua Van at UFC 331 in September, with American Top Team coach Marcos “Parrumpa” da Matta telling Sherdog that the former flyweight champion requires an extended break from competition.

“Pantoja is at a moment where he needs to rest — not just his body, but his mind too,” da Matta said. “That fight with Joshua Van took a lot out of him mentally, for several reasons.”

The defeat was Pantoja’s second consecutive loss to Van. He first surrendered the flyweight title at UFC 323 in December 2025, suffering an arm injury just 26 seconds into that bout. His rematch challenge at UFC 331 ended in the same result, with Van retaining the belt on all three judges’ scorecards.

Da Matta pointed to the cumulative toll of back-to-back title camps, injury recovery, and the psychological weight of the rematch as reasons why Pantoja now needs a genuine reset rather than a quick turnaround.

“Since 2023 we’ve been running camp after camp with all those five-round fights,” the coach explained. “That takes a toll on a fighter who already has nearly 40 MMA fights and isn’t a kid anymore.”

With no timeline in place, da Matta indicated that even preliminary discussions about Pantoja’s next opponent may not begin until 2026. “So now he needs to rest, we have no timetable at all for his return,” he said. “First rest his body and especially his mind, and then, maybe next year, we start thinking about fighting again.”

Pantoja, a two-time flyweight champion, remains one of the division’s most decorated fighters, but the consecutive losses to Van have raised questions about the path back to another title shot. For now, his team’s priority is recovery over competition.