[Opinion] ‘I just don’t like hugging another man in a fight’: Joshua Van promises he can deal with Alexandre Pantoja’s grappling

Joshua Van: 'I don't give respect to nobody inside that cage'

Joshua Van's rise to the top of the UFC flyweight division was head-spinning fast. He entered his UFC 316 bout against Bruno Gustavo da Silva on June 7 as an unranked fighter. He stopped Silva via punches in the third round and debuted in the rankings at No. 12. He then received the opportunity of a lifetime. Two days after his win over Silva, top contender at the time, Brandon Royval, lost his UFC 317 opponent due to injury. Royval was schedule…

‘I just don’t like hugging another man in a fight’: Joshua Van promises he can deal with Alexandre Pantoja’s grappling

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC Joshua Van isn’t letting his potential Fight of the Year performance against Brandon Royval inflate his ego any more than he allows other people’s opinions affect his preparation for an eventual showdown with UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja. It was almost exactly one month ago when Van scored a knockout of Bruno Silva at UFC 316 that was supposed to push him higher in the rankings with the potential to lu…