Joshua Van Is Enjoying Each Moment

He’s pretty good at it, too. Van is 12-2 a pro, with a 5-1 record in the UFC, and he’s rising rapidly at 125 pounds heading into his bout with unbeaten Rei Tsuruya. That means for all his willingness to just scrap, he’s got to deal with the reality that more and more people are paying attention to his each and every move in the Octagon.

“Especially fighting in Vegas,” said Van, whose last three wins over Felipe Bunes, Edgar Chairez and Cody Durden have come in the “fight capital of the world.” “There's always crowds in the fighter hotel. So it’s definitely different there. But that comes with it, so you got to deal with it.”

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Van is dealing with it just fine. And dare I say he might even be enjoying it a little.

“Yeah, when I go out to fight, even my last fight, I noticed that a lot more people come up to me and they're asking for pictures and stuff like that. Every fight, people are starting to know you more, and especially this fight, I think a lot of people will know me more.”

A lot of people already know him in his native Myanmar, which he left with his family when he was eight in search of a better life. Eventually settling in Houston, Van built a life and a career, but he’s never lost sight of his roots, and that’s appreciated back home.

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“They love it,” Van said of the reaction to his success in Myanmar. “Supposedly, I'm a big name over there. Hopefully I can go back to my country soon and inspire this young generation. It’s always been my goal, a dream of mine.”

The current civil war in Myanmar has kept Van from going home to visit, but he’ll be repping the flag on Saturday for the first fight or what may be the most important year of his career. And given his schedule of six bouts in less than two years on the UFC roster, in a year’s time he could be looking at a title shot if he keeps winning. 

Is that rushing things? 

“Nah, you're not rushing things,” Van laughs. “We just got to get the right fight. My plan is to win this fight, maybe one or two more, then we can be talking about title contention. So yeah, you're not wrong.”

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Just don’t think that Van is looking too far ahead or enjoying the fruits of his labor too much. He’s a fighter, and this fighter has a fight coming up.

“I definitely enjoy this,” he said. “I just have to make sure I don't over enjoy this s**t. (Laughs) But I’ve gone from having nothing from having something, so whatever I do, I got to outsmart this guy.”