At 24, Joshua Van believes he's set to usher in a new era of young champions at UFC 323

For many years, combat sports has been referred to as a young person's game, which makes sense considering the speed, stamina and elusiveness needed at the elite level, not to mention the physical toll. 

But whether it's due to the evolution of full-year training or the advancement of supplements and recovery techniques, the elite level of mixed martial arts has seen an aging resurgence in recent years, where the average age of the 11 current UFC champions now stands at 34, and just one titleholder -- 28-year-old lightweight king Ilia Topuria -- is under the age of 30. 

It's because of that development that Joshua Van's story entering this weekend's UFC 323 pay-per-view card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas is so compelling. 

Van, a native of Myanmar who migrated to Houston at the age of 12, will look to become the second youngest champion in UFC history when he challenges 35-year-old Alexandre Pantoja (30-5) in Saturday's co-main event.

So, how does one put Van's youth, from an MMA standpoint, in proper context?

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Van turned 24 in October. He was born one month after 9/11 in 2001 and has an opportunity to become the first UFC champion born in the 21st century. Van, who was entering first grade when Pantoja had his first pro fight in 2007, also didn't even make his own MMA debut until after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Yet, in the 30 months since his first walk to the Octagon in 2023, Van has fought nine times and holds an 8-1 UFC record. Even a third-round knockout loss to Charles Johnson in his third UFC appearance last summer didn't slow him down as Van rebounded by winning five straight over the next 15 months, including an all-out war against top contender Brandon Royval on just a three-week turnaround between fights in June that put him in position for the title. 

With a victory at UFC 323, Van (who will be 24 years, 1 month and 27 days old) has the opportunity to make sure youth is served at the highest level of the sport, placing him directly between legends Jon Jones (23 years, 2 months) and Jose Aldo (24 years, 2 months) as the youngest champions in UFC history. 

"It ain't too soon, it's perfect timing," Van told CBS Sports last week. "I'm just well prepared. I'm very, very excited for this fight, bringing in the new era of fighters. Pantoja has done what he has done but now I feel like it's time for the new fighters."  

Van, who trains out of 4oz Fight Club in Houston, chalks up his early success as a fighter (who has been a pro for just four years) to a combination of self-belief and a vision that he would end up exactly where he is. A background in streetfighting as a teenager led him to join an MMA gym shortly after high school and it wasn't long before he was accepting amateur bouts under the Texas-based Fury FC promotion. 

"My first fight wasn't big but for my second fight, [Fury FC] signed a deal with UFC Fight Pass," Van said. "That was how the UFC scouts fighters and I was only an amateur back then. From my second amateur fight, I said I want to be a UFC champion. I always said it and I believed it.

"I believe in destiny and I feel like all of our life is written before we ever enter this world. So, I feel like that was meant to be."

Despite the major gap in experience between the two fighters and the fact that the pound-for-pound ranked Pantoja is entering his fifth title defense, Van remains just a slight underdog entering the fight. A big reason for that is Van's combination of slick boxing, heavy striking and an ability to not be held down, even after allowing a takedown.

If Van's third-round TKO win over Bruno Silva in June opened eyeballs to the possibility of the young fighter quickly becoming a contender at 125 pounds, his last-minute acceptance of the Royval fight just three weeks later at UFC 317 after Manel Kape pulled out made a believer out of nearly everyone -- including UFC matchmakers -- that Van's upside was simply becoming undeniable. 

In the bout that took place immediately before Pantoja's submission win over Kai Kara-France on the UFC 317 main card, Royval threw caution to the wind from the start and rushed Van with an overwhelming volume of strikes that never appeared to slow down over the three rounds. While most fighters as young as Van might've been swallowed up by such an attack from a two-time title challenger such as Royval, Van took the damage well and countered throughout with even heavier shots to eventually take a close decision in a true fight-of-the-year contender.

"I thought he would try to take me down but knowing Royval, he's a dog. He has nothing but my respect," Van said. "He wanted to bring a banger fight, especially after [UFC CEO] Dana White said it's for the No. 1 contender. Shit, I was hurt. I was hurt, for sure. He landed all of those punches but at the end of the day, we came out on top and that's all that mattered. Shout out to Royval for giving me this opportunity. Without him, I wouldn't be fighting for the title."

Sure, it may have helped Van's cutting of the line to draw the next title shot that Pantoja had essentially cleaned out the division of top contenders over the previous two years. But the toughness shown by Van and the variety of his offense skills -- not to mention his motor -- simply can't be overlooked. 

Even though he has yet to fight past three rounds as a pro, Van has no fear about fighting Pantoja over the championship distance, saying, "When was the last time you saw me getting tired?" For Van, it took his July 2024 knockout loss to allow him to realize that there will never be any substitute when it comes to fighting at the elite level for hard work. 

"The fight that I lost, I feel like I didn't put enough work in the gym," Van said. "I don't ever want to [have that happen again]. Me, if I lose the fight, I don't want to lose because the other guy has put more work in than me. Now, I know that is not the case because I put in the work. So, if [Pantoja] beats me, I know that he's better than me because he's not going to outwork me."

Van, who took his nickname of "The Fearless" from the character Earl Ragnar Ravnson on the British historical drama television series "The Last Kingdom," is ultimately looking to make the people of his home nation in Southeast Asia proud with his performance against Pantoja. 

"It will be amazing because not a lot of people know Myanmar," Van said. "Now, when I raise that belt, the world will see what Myanmar is and the world will know. I can't wait to have my country in front of millions of people. [Pantoja] is definitely going to try and take me down, everybody knows that, but I'm just ready for whatever. If he wants to strike, we can strike. Whatever he brings to the table, I'll be ready. You can throw out the gameplan, I'm going to fight Joshua Van style."