“I Stay Very Simple”: Joshua Van Breaks Down the Style That Makes Him Hard to Figure Out
The flyweight champion explains the deceptive simplicity behind his fighting style, which makes it hard for opponents to gauge his skill level.
Joshua Van has silenced his remaining doubters by retaining his flyweight title in a dominant fashion against the former champion Alexandre Pantoja.
Van put on a five-round thriller at UFC 331 in Los Angeles last Saturday and defended his belt for the second time. Now, as he has cemented himself as the undisputed king of the division, Van talked about the technical infrastructure of his fighting style.
Joshua Van Explains His Moves to Dominick Cruz
After his UFC 331 win, Joshua Van appeared on a recent episode of Love & War with Dominick Cruz. While breaking down his style, Van described himself as a counterpuncher, but different from the typical ones.
"I'm a counterpuncher, right? A lot of counterpunchers are like they're going backward. But I want to put the pressure and still be able to counter the guys at the same time. So that's something that I work on," he said.
Van also explained that he avoids the complex style of counterstriking and sticks to the basic one. "I like to stay very simple. Because a lot of people, they want to do all these fancy moves. But at the end, that kind of drains you for the long 25 minutes of fighting. If you look at my fighting style, one, two, one, two, three, one, two, three body. This is basic."
Interestingly, this same game plan helped the 24-year-old Myanmar-born American champion silence the doubts that lingered after he unusually won the UFC belt.
Van Proved Critics Wrong at UFC 331
Joshua Van entered the UFC in 2023 and suffered only one loss the next year. With a five-fight win streak, the 24-year-old earned his shot at the title against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 323.
The fight ended within minutes of the first round as Pantoja fell on his arm and injured himself. Van got his hand raised, and the belt wrapped around his waist.
However, the result didn't sit well with many. He defended the belt once against Tatsuro Taira with a knockout win in 2026.
In his second defense, he faced Alexandre Pantoja on 19 September. Now, Van had the opportunity to prove his doubters wrong, and he did it dominantly.
The champion landed an absurd 207 strikes in the five-round bout. All the judges scored in Van's favor 49-46, 49-47, and 50-45, giving him a unanimous decision.
Considering his age, Van still has a long career ahead of him. However, a performance like this against a former four-time title defender has already put him among the division’s greats.
