JoshuaVan entered his second flyweight title defense with asignificant shoulder injury.
Van retained his Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight belt on Sept. 19 atCrypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, defeating former champion AlexandrePantoja by unanimous decision in the main event of UFC331. “The Fearless” has revealed that he had a less-than-idealtraining camp for the rematch.
At the post-fight press conference, Van said he injured the ACjoint in his right shoulder following the pre-fight presser inAugust in Philadelphia and was unable to spar normally for much ofcamp, relying primarily on cardio training.
“Coming into this fight after the press conference in Philly, Itore my AC joint in my right shoulder and I couldn’t even spar,”Van said. “So, the last two weeks was my first time sparring, andthis camp we did nothing but cardio. Just running and stuff likethat. I’ve got to go back there and get MRIs and get checked up, sohopefully nothing major.”
Considering he’s coming off an injury, Van is unlikely to return toaction for a third title defense this year. He didn’t call out anyof the flyweight contenders after beating Pantoja, saying thathe’ll accept whomever the UFC offers. Top-ranked 125-pounderManelKape, who has finished his last four opponents, is seeminglythe frontrunner.
