UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van credits KO loss to Charles Johnson for title run

Joshua Van holds the UFC flyweight championship today, but the 24-year-old is quick to point back to the night Charles Johnson knocked him out in the third round — July 2024 — as the moment that reshaped his career. Van will defend that title against former champion Alexandre Pantoja in the UFC 331 main event at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sept. 19.

The Johnson stoppage was the second loss of Van’s professional career and remains his most recent defeat. Since that night, he has strung together seven consecutive victories, stripped Pantoja of the flyweight belt, and successfully defended it against Tatsuro Taira — a remarkable turnaround in little over two years.

Van was candid about how much the setback altered his mindset. “That loss kind of humbled me in a way,” he said. “So, I never want to taste defeat again. My work ethic that I put in the gym is just different from that day on.”

Rather than rebuilding his style from scratch, Van said the lesson was more about self-discipline and preparation. He acknowledged that mistakes made in the lead-up to the Johnson fight — not the fight itself — were at the root of the loss.

“Going into that camp, there’s a lot of things that I did that I shouldn’t have done,” Van added. “But there’s no excuse… He beat me fair and square. And it humbled me to become a better fighter.”

The rematch with Pantoja at UFC 331 gives Van the chance to close the loop on the chapter that began with that defeat. Pantoja, a former champion, represents the sternest test of whether Van’s post-Johnson evolution is genuine — and the champion appears to be approaching it with the same hunger that has defined his seven-fight winning streak.