21-year-old Joshua Van felt at home during UFC debut, wants to be most active fighter in promotion

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Joshua Van is only 21 and he’s already pocketed a win in the UFC.

At UFC on ABC 5, Van (8-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) won his short-notice promotional debut when he defeated Zhalgas Zhumagulov (14-9 MMA, 1-6 UFC) by unanimous decision. The flyweight bout took place on Saturday’s prelims at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.

Van hasn’t been on the UFC roster for even a month. But when it came time to fight, Van was comfortable on the big stage under the bright lights.

“It felt like home,” Van told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “When I was on my way here, going to the locker room, I was a little nervous. But then after we got a little warmup, I felt at home, man.”

Van didn’t have a callout prepared to ask for when the cameras turned to him post-fight. But that’s not due to lack of preparation, but rather disinterest in watching fights from a third-person perspective.

“I don’t really watch fights, so I don’t really know who I was fighting,” Van said. “I don’t know his name. Jon Jones? Yeah, yeah, yeah. … I watch my own fights. … I don’t know, man. Everybody has different styles, so I feel like if I focus on my style, my technique, I feel like I’ll be better off like that.”

In place of an opponent or venue pitch, Van laid out a goal. He wants to fight as often as possible going forward – more often than anyone else.

“I want to stay active, bro,” Van said. “I want to be the most active UFC fighter over here.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 5.