Joshua Van believes he reignited interest in “ass” UFC flyweight division

Joshua Van believes he was the one to help really reignite interest in the UFC’s flyweight division.

As we know, Joshua Van is the UFC flyweight champion. He is set to defend the belt at UFC 327 against Tatsuro Taira, in a fight that many believed should have been awarded to Manel Kape. Either way, Van is ready to prove that he is deserving of being world champion after getting the belt courtesy of an injury to Alexandre Pantoja in their own title clash.

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In terms of the rest of the division, there’s a lot to get excited about. Most notably, Manel Kape will face off against Kyoji Horiguchi in an upcoming main event that will almost certainly determine who the true number one contender really is.

In a recent interview, Van had some interesting comments regarding the state of the flyweights prior to his arrival.

Van’s view on UFC flyweight division

“After this fight, everything will change for sure,” Van told MMA Junkie Radio. “Before I came to the UFC, the flyweight division was ass. Nobody paid attention to the flyweight division, and then I come to the division and I lit a fire.

“Now we’ve got a lot of talent. Tatsuro, myself, we’ve still got (Brandon) Royval, Manel (Kape), all these guys. Before I got to the UFC, it was like one or two people that were at the top and that was it. But now we’ve got all this talent, so after this fight, everything will change for sure.”

“Tatsuro is a well-rounded guy and we were supposed to fight before,” Van said. “I’m actually excited for this fight. He’s a well-rounded guy, he’s good on the ground, he’s got a little bit of striking, so I’m ready to test myself against this guy.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

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