Daniel Cormier: Joshua Van big dogged Alexandre Pantoja in Round 5 of UFC 331

Daniel Cormier raved about the way Joshua Van left no doubt at UFC 331.

UFC flyweight champion Van (18-2 MMA, 11-1 UFC) defeated Alexandre Pantoja (30-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) for a second time in Saturday's main event at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Many called Van's first title win over Pantoja at UFC 323 a fluke, after Pantoja injured his elbow just 26 seconds into their fight.

However, Van showed that after five rounds of battle, he was the fresher and more powerful fighter when he dropped and almost finished Pantoja. Like he did against Tatsuro Taira, Van survived Pantoja's ground game and hurt him on the feet late to secure the win.

"The night belonged to Joshua Van," Cormier said on his YouTube channel. "That young man is so talented. All week, many thought he was a little bit disrespectful toward Pantoja. All week, people said he was kind of cocky and arrogant, but I don't see why he wouldn't be. He's a young kid, 24 years old, he's the world champion, and he's just getting better every time he steps inside the octagon. Tonight he was defending takedowns and when he got taken down, he did a great job of making sure he took no damage.

"He made one mistake: He gave his back in the second round, I believe, or end of the third. His corner was like, 'Don't give your back – don't give your back.' They had him so well prepared that there were a couple times in the fourth round where he got taken down, and he looked like he was about to give the back, and he went back to the under hook. He just keeps getting better. There was a question on the weigh-in show, was the time for Pantoja to beat Joshua Van in their first fight? Is it too late now? It was too late. That was proven without a shadow of a doubt because the judges scored the fight, two of them, 49-46, 4-1 Van, and one 5-0 for Joshua Van."

Cormier was especially impressed with the strides Van continues to make from fight to fight.

"He is improving every single time he steps inside of the octagon," Cormier said. "His boxing is amazing, his wrestling is improving and getting better every time, and we're always surprised at the jumps that he is making but again, he's so young. When you're young, you don't jump 1 percent, 1 percent, 1 percent. You're seeing 10 percent, 5 percent, 8 percent. He is jumping like exponentially every time he steps inside the octagon, and tonight he showed that.

"And Pantoja fought his tail off, but there just was no way he was going to win that fight tonight. And I think what was most impressive was Round No. 5 where Joshua Van just big-dogged it. He was like, 'Yo, I'm the champion. I have to win this round because we think it's 2-2.' He dominated that round. He was on the gas the whole time, hurt Pantoja, and almost finished him. I don't know that I've ever seen Joshua Van fight better, and I can only say that I'd imagine the next time he gets into the octagon, he's going to fight better."

Manel Kape (23-7 MMA, 8-3 UFC) called Van the perfect style for him to paint a masterpiece, and Cormier thinks that's the next fight. He explains why Kape presents a different challenge for the champion.

"My guess is he's going to fight Manel Kape," Cormier said. "He has been through now all the grapplers in the division, so he will not have to deal with that threat. The one area that Manel possesses that most don't is Manel has the power to knock him out. That's the difference. Manel can knock him out if he gets the opportunity.

"But in terms of a stylistic challenge, going through Taira, going through Pantoja back-to-back, he's already dealt with what most people thought would have been the biggest issue for Joshua Van, and that's the wrestling, and he passed those fights with flying colors, finishing Taira, and then tonight beating Alexandre Pantoja by unanimous decision."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Daniel Cormier: Joshua Van 'big dogged' Alexandre Pantoja in Round 5 of UFC 331