Van's power and timing proved the difference. In Round 1, he out-timed Royval in the exchanges and appeared to land the more effective shots. Although Rovval came on strong in Round 3, Van dug deeped and out-dogged "Raw Dawg.

Ilia Topuria at lightweight and Joshua Van at men's flyweight represent welcomed excitement at the top of those divisions.

In the main event of UFC 317, the vacant lightweight title is on the line. Former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria (16-0) officially makes […]

Minutes after his UFC 317 win over Kai Kara-France, Pantoja (30-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC) was quite literally faced with his next opponent. Into the cage at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas walked Joshua Van, who defeated Brandon Royval in a thrilling title eliminator just one fight prior.

It’s just not in Brandon Royval’s nature to back down from a challenge. Originally scheduled to face Manel Kape on the card, Royval took a big risk accepting the fight against a much lower ranked opponent like Van but he acknowledged that’s just how he’s built.

Alexandre Pantoja has offered an explanation on why he thinks Joshua Van will be his toughest challenge to date following UFC 317.