Joshua Van got the full fight. The belt still belongs to him.

Joshua Van no longer has to explain how his first fight with Alexandre Pantoja ended. He won the rematch over five complete rounds Saturday night in Los Angeles, retaining the UFC flyweight championship by unanimous decision.

The judges scored it 49–46, 48–47 and 50–45 for Van. Their first meeting at UFC 323 lasted only 27 seconds before Pantoja suffered an elbow injury. This time the final horn arrived, and every official scorecard belonged to the champion.

That distinction matters. The injury made Van the champion, but it could not tell us how the matchup would develop. A five-round decision does. Van defended the title against the former champion who had entered their first bout with four successful defenses behind him.

Five rounds settle the rematch

Pantoja reached this rematch after rehabilitation and received the opportunity the first ending denied him. He did not regain the belt, but the result should not be reduced to a failed comeback. He forced Van to prove the championship over the full distance. Van did it.

The scorecards were not identical. Two judges found competitive rounds that produced 49–46 and 48–47 totals; the third gave Van all five. The unanimous result is the settled fact. Arguments about individual rounds can continue without reopening the identity of the winner.

The main card produced several abrupt endings before that measured five-round finish. Arman Tsarukyan stopped Mauricio Ruffy with elbows at 4:56 of the first round, and Patricio Pitbull knocked out Dooho Choi at 3:28 of the opening round.

A first-round rush underneath the main event

Sean Sharaf delivered the night's fastest shock, knocking out heavily favored Gable Steveson with a left hand 12 seconds into Round 1. One result does not define either man's entire ceiling, but it immediately changes the conversation around both heavyweights.

Van leaves Los Angeles with the same belt and a different standing. The champion produced the answer that an accident could not: when Pantoja was able to fight him for 25 minutes, Van still won.