Joshua Van | Ready to Keep Making History

Since the pandemic, there have only been two instances in which a men’s flyweight title fight occupied the marquee, and one of those times — UFC 310, when Pantoja defended his title against Kai Asakura — only happened because the welterweight championship main event fell apart a few weeks out.

But it’s not just about where this fight falls in the lineup that makes this moment worth celebrating and for Van’s excitement to be legitimate. It’s also because after once being on the chopping block, the flyweight division has become one of the most consistently entertaining and competitive weight classes in the promotion from top to bottom, and now a heated rivalry between its last two champions is a big enough fight to serve as the main event in the second largest media market in the United States.

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“It feels great to represent flyweight,” continued Van, who has gone 10-1 since arriving in the UFC in the summer of 2023 and carries a seven-fight winning streak into his second title defense this weekend. “It’s not just a one-man job, so shout out to all the flyweights putting in work, staying active. I’m very, very grateful to be in this position.”

Additionally, Van has always been proud and vocal in representing his homeland of Myanmar, which is the largest country by area in mainland Southeast Asia, but a nation not known for its international sporting history.

The fighting part and rocketing to the top of the UFC flyweight division in two and a half years? He’s always seen that as just how things are supposed to go and a reflection of the skills he brings to the cage and the effort he puts in ahead of every fight.

While the spotlight has gotten brighter and the attention increased, nothing about Van’s approach has shifted, while the things that matter most to him have gotten easier.

UPCOMING UFC EVENT TICKETS: UFC Edmonton | UFC 332 

“A lot more media, a lot more media,” he said with a laugh when asked the biggest change since becoming champion last December. “Life is a lot easier. Taking care of my family is a lot easier, but other than that, everything is the same.”

It’s how he feels about this fight week too — “it feels the same as always” — although if you asked anyone else, they’d tell you it’s anything but.

“I always knew I was a dog, so it just proved to the people that have been doubting me that I am a dog,” the champion said with a smirk and a laugh when asked the impact of his bout with Taira. “It meant a lot for me. Even though I won the belt, it was bittersweet for me because of the way it went... But when I beat Tatsuro, I was like, ‘This is how winning a title is supposed to feel like.’”

Now he’s just a handful of days away from running it back with Pantoja in a rematch everyone knew was coming that, in addition to answering the questions that remain from their first meeting.

How To Watch And Stream Crypto.com UFC 331: Van vs Pantoja 2

“He talked too much and that s*** just kinda annoyed me,” laughed Van, discussing the back-and-forth that has transpired between him and Pantoja in the buildup to UFC 331. “When the first fight was done, he was being so respectful, and he did an interview a couple months later and he was talking crazy... I was like, ‘I respect you so much, and for you to talk crazy like this just annoys me’ so I was just going along with it.”

Verbal jousting aside, the contest itself has taken on a different flavor than their first meeting, especially in the wake of Van’s successful title defense in Newark earlier this year.

When they met in Las Vegas in December, most looked at Van as someone who was in the right place at the right time and made the most of it to earn a championship opportunity, as it was his short notice win over Brandon Royval five months earlier that catapulted him into the matchup with Pantoja. 

Few expected him to dethrone the dominant champion, who had earned consecutive submission wins over Kai Asakura and Kai Kara-France to give him four successful title defenses, and his experience and overall skillset was believed to be too much for the ascending prospect.

READ: Alexandre Pantoja | Enjoying The Moment Differently This Time

But then 26 seconds into the fight, disaster struck.

Pantoja had thrown a high kick, which Van caught and turned into an opportunity to “tree top” the champion, and when Pantoja extended his left hand to the canvas to help absorb the impact, his elbow collapsed and dislocated.

The belt was halted, Pantoja was ushered out of the Octagon, and Van was the new champion, though it didn’t quite feel that way to most.

Now, nine months later, they’re primed to run it back.

WATCH: Full Fight | Joshua Van vs Tatsuro Taira

“It’s the same way I prepared for him the first time,” Van said of his preparations. “I don’t think he’s gonna change his fighting style — he’s gonna try to, but he’s been doing it for so long, it’s hard to change what you’ve been doing... He’s gonna try to change, but the moment he gets tired, he’ll go back to the old him.