A New Era In The Flyweight Division Begins In Earnest At UFC 328

Van’s rise was much more sudden. He joined the roster in June 2023, scoring three wins in seven months before falling to Charles Johnson when he tried to make it four wins in 13 months. Rather than halting momentum, Van seemed to find it as he returned two months later to bounce back with a win over Edgar Chairez and sneaking a decision win over Cody Durden before the end of 2024. He kept the ball rolling in 2025, beating Rei Tsuruya in March before knocking out Bruno Silva at UFC 316, but his climb hit overdrive when he stepped in on short notice 21 days later against Brandon Royval at UFC 317. The two went back-and-forth in one of the best fights of the year before Van put the exclamation point on the fight with a late knockdown of the former title challenger.

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After beating Royval, Van faced off with Pantoja in the Octagon, setting up the matchup that would go down in December but end prematurely when Pantoja suffered an arm injury 26 seconds into the fight. Although an unfortunate way for the belt to change hands, credit goes to the 24-year-old Van for forcing his way into the opportunity in the first place.

And yes, to many, “The Cannibal” remains the cream of the flyweight crop, but after cleaning out an era’s worth of contenders, six of the current top 10 have not yet challenged for the title (although that number shrinks to five once Taira enters the Octagon on May 9). Manel Kape and Kyoji Horiguchi are the most experienced of the prospective title challengers and are set to duke it out in a high-stakes main event on June 20, but the freshest face in the mix is England’s Lone’er Kavanagh. 

Kavanagh was highly touted coming out of Cage Warriors and his contract-winning performance on Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2024. After opening his UFC account with a pair of decision wins, he suffered a knockout loss to Johnson in Shanghai, seemingly needing some more polish before challenging for the top 15. Opportunity came knocking, though, when Asu Almabayev (another notable and interesting contender on the rise) pulled out of his Mexico City headliner against Moreno. Many were surprised when Kavanagh got the nod despite his recent loss. In turn, he delivered the performance of his career, hurting Moreno several times and relatively outclassing the former champion to get the nod on the scorecards as well as his first Performance Bonus.

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That’s not to say Pantoja or Moreno are out of the mix when it comes to the championship picture, and more experienced contenders like Steve Erceg, Amir Albazi and Kai Kara-France are in the thick of their primes and are keen to surge up the table again, but having a handful of under-30 fighters playing real factors at the top of a weight class is exciting, particularly in a highly skilled division like flyweight.

What was once considered a division on the fringe is arguably one of the healthiest ecosystems on the roster, and when Van and Taira compete in Newark, it could be the true beginning of a new era.