Joshua Van gets another stern warning from top UFC contender: ‘He’s like a punching bag’

Reigning UFC Flyweight Champion Joshua Van has received another harsh warning from the man who could be his first challenger.

Van captured the 125-pound gold due to unfortunate circumstances. His first world title opportunity against Alexandre Pantoja ended in just 26 seconds. Pantoja suffered a horrific arm injury and he could not continue.

Despite the unforeseen situation, the flyweight division is heating up. On the same night of Van’s title win, Tatsuro Taira defeated former champion Brandon Moreno via TKO. More recently, Manel Kape starched Brandon Royval in the opening frame of the final UFC fight of 2025.

Kape told MMAJunkie that Van’s style will put him in danger when they fight because he views him as little more than a punching bag.

“Brandon Royval is an elite fighter,” Kape said. “He beat all these contenders, fighters that come near to the belt, he’s beat all of them. Especially Tatsuro Taira, Moreno recently – like I say, in my opinion, he beat Royval. He’s a head of these guys, you know? I just made this guy look easy. I find the range, I find the time, and it was everything set up.

“Looking to Joshua Van, his skills and everything, to be honest, I see him like a punching bag. I see someone that’s gonna stay in front of me all the time. Like, his game is the same. He’s like a punching bag. That’s what I see on Joshua Van, and this is not even trash talk. I believe if I fight Joshua Van, my training camp’s gonna be just punching bag. … Me fighting Joshua Van is just gonna be a punching bag workout.”

Whether or not Kape will ultimately get the next crack at flyweight gold remains to be seen. While Taira also made a convincing argument, Kape suggests that his win over Royval has sealed the deal given that Taira couldn’t beat the man he walked through.