At UFC 331 weigh-ins, Joe Rogan bluntly described Joshua Van’s previous win over Alexandre Pantoja last year as “accidental,” and the flyweight champion has now admitted that the remark got to him.

At the time, Van immediately pushed back, insisting that his UFC 323 victory over the Brazilian was no accident. However, days after successfully defeating Pantoja again at UFC 331 via unanimous decision, Joshua Van revealed on The Ariel Helwani Show that Rogan’s comment at the weigh-ins affected him.

“I ain’t even gonna lie, man. A little bit,” Van confessed. “You know, it was kinda f—ed up that he said that, but you know, much love to Joe Rogan. You know what it is, man. 

“To be honest, I don’t really give a f–k what other people say. But Joe Rogan is somebody that I look up to. And for him to say that, you know, it’s kinda like, damn!”

Rogan’s comments came in reference to the first meeting between Van and the then-champion Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 323. The fight ended just 26 seconds into the opening round after Van caught Pantoja’s head kick, causing the Brazilian to fall to the canvas, onto his arm, and suffer a broken elbow as a result.

The unusual ending led to plenty of discussion about the circumstances of Van’s title win, with Rogan ultimately describing it as an “accident.” The Burmese-American, however, viewed the outcome differently.

The reigning UFC flyweight champion has consistently maintained that his defense against Pantoja’s kick was what ultimately decided the fight. That made Rogan’s characterization particularly difficult for Joshua Van to hear, especially because the commentator is someone, as he said, he looks up to.

Van made that clear immediately after his rematch victory at UFC 331. During his Octagon interview with Rogan, the champion sneakily handed him a response.

“A lot of people say that was an accident win the first time,” Van said. “Now, doubt me now. Shout out to Pantoja. Nothing but respect from me. He’s a tough man. He’s hard to finish.”

Van’s comments made it clear that he wanted the second victory to settle any doubts surrounding his first win. However, despite admitting that Rogan’s remarks bothered him, the 24-year-old clarified that the commentator doesn’t owe him an apology.

“Nah. He doesn’t have to. It just, I just let him know how I feel, you know?” Van added in the interview.

So, while Rogan’s words clearly stung, Joshua Van doesn’t appear to hold a grudge against the longtime UFC commentator. Instead, he simply wanted Joe Rogan to understand how the comments affected him.

Van isn’t the first UFC fighter to publicly push back against something Rogan said, either.

Jan Blachowicz also called out Joe Rogan over his fight comments

In 2022, Jan Blachowicz faced Magomed Ankalaev for the vacant light heavyweight title in the UFC 282 main event. After five competitive rounds, the judges couldn’t hand either one of them the victory, resulting in a split draw.

Rogan, however, believed Ankalaev had done enough to secure the win. He expressed that opinion during his Octagon interview with Blachowicz, who later admitted that he felt the commentator had made a mistake by bringing up his assessment immediately after the fight.

“Joe Rogan, when he stepped into the octagon, he said for him I lost the fight,” Blachowicz told MMA Fighting. “That was what I was thinking. He made a mistake that he say something like this to me after the fight. Because everybody who thinks that I lost the fight watches only the last round.”

Blachowicz clearly disagreed with Rogan’s assessment. Interestingly, however, the former light heavyweight champion had initially suggested that the UFC should award the title to Ankalaev. But he later walked back on those comments.

Most fighters try to tune out the outside noise surrounding their performances, but Van and Blachowicz have both acknowledged the impact of Rogan’s words at different points in their careers.

For Van, though, the best response ultimately came inside the Octagon. After Rogan questioned his first victory over Pantoja, the flyweight champion went out and beat the former champion again over five rounds.

Whether that changes Rogan’s opinion of the first fight remains to be seen, but Van has now made his own position clear: he never viewed that victory as an accident.