Newark — It was supposed to happen at UFC 327 last month, but Joshua Van will finally enter his first flyweight title defense at UFC 328 this Saturday instead. There, he’ll take on Japan’s Tatsuro Taira.
“Everything happens for a reason, and now I’m 100% ready to go,” Van (16-2) said during Wednesday’s UFC 328 media day, adding “I get a better poster as well, so that’s a bonus.”
After suffering an injury, the exact nature of which has not been disclosed, that pulled him out of UFC 327, Van got the call from UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell. Van told Campbell he’d only need a few weeks to recover, and got exactly what he was looking for.
“Shout out to Hunter and the UFC for rescheduling it a lot sooner.”
Van won the UFC’s 125lb title late last year in a fight with Alexandre Pantoja, that saw Pantoja go down to injury early. Since becoming champ, life has been good, Van allowed, if little different than it was before. “I always see myself as champion, so it’s nothing new.”
Many expect Pantoja to receive a title shot immediately upon his return, but Van hasn’t heard anything from the Brazilian. “Nothing. Nothing other than what he posts or something.”
Van versus Taira is the first UFC title fight featuring two fighters born in the 2000s. A moment for the next generation to shine, perhaps, but to Van “it feels familiar.”
“This is not the first time I’ve fought a guy that was born in the 2000s. This is the second time, it just happens to be so that we’re fighting for a title. Two Asian guys as well. So it’s going to be great for the Asian community.”
Van also believes the fight is the biggest one for the Asian community in UFC history.
“Yeah for sure. This is the first time two Asian males fight for a title, right? So yeah for sure.”
Van was born in Myanmar; Taira hails from Japan. While fighters like Kyoji Horiguchi and Yushin Okami have fought for gold on the men’s side in years past, an all-Asian title fight has not happened (on the ladies’ side, Weili Zhang defeated Yan Xiaonan in 2024 for the women’s strawweight championship).
Watch the full UFC 328 media day appearance by Joshua Van above.
