For as cliched as the tired phrase typically sounds, that fighters become 30% better upon winning the championship, it's an adage that UFC flyweight titleholder Alexandre Pantoja has very much made true of late.

The 35-year-old Pantoja (30-5) has embarked upon a meteoric rise up the sport's pound-for-pound rankings in recent years as he enters a UFC 323 title defense against Joshua Van (15-2) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. And even though the defining narrative regarding Saturday's co-main event has surrounded the age gap between them and the rapid rise of the 24-year-old challenger from Myanmar, the division's best untold story of late has been Pantoja's remarkable turnaround.

Pantoja, a native of Brazil, was a self-proclaimed brawler with a strong jiu-jitsu game when he entere

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