Joshua Van Says Loss Was a Blessing in Disguise. UFC flyweight contender Joshua Van has said that his knockout loss to Charles Johnson last year was one of the best things that could’ve happened to him.
At just 23 years old, flyweight contender Joshua “The Fearless” Van has transformed from a promising prospect into a legitimate title contender in under two years. However, it wasn’t his victories that defined his journey, it was the moment he hit rock bottom that reshaped everything. Van’s UFC loss came on July 13, 2024, when he was knocked out in the third round by Charles Johnson.
It was a stunning setback, especially for a young fighter riding early momentum. But Van didn’t shy away from the loss, he embraced it. For someone as young and talented as Van, winning had almost become routine. But that loss stripped away the noise, the confidence, the hype, the rush and left only the raw version of who he was.
As time passed, something shifted. What once felt like the worst night of his life slowly became something else. Since that defeat, Joshua Van has not lost again. In 2025 alone, he racked up wins. He Stepped in on short notice and delivered a third-round TKO over Bruno Silva in Newark, New Jersey, demonstrating his evolving power and composure under pressure.
In June 2025, Van took a short-notice fight at UFC 316, stepping in against the hard-hitting Bruno Silva. Many expected him to just survive. Instead, he finished Silva with a flurry in the third round, reminding everyone what made him special in the first place.
Just three weeks later, he returned at UFC 317 in Las Vegas, this time against Brandon Royval, one of the most unpredictable fighters in the flyweight division. It was the kind of fight that could break a fighter mentally. But Van didn’t break, he rose. In a back-and-forth war, Van earned a unanimous decision win and the Fight of the Night bonus. He wasn’t just back. He was better.
In a recent interview, Joshua Van spoke candidly about how losing in such a way actually helped him grow. “It was just the faith thing. The loss was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, because if not, I would have been out of the world, get a big head and things like that. I got humble real quick. Now, I never want to go back to that type of moment. So, I’m just staying in my lane, doing what coach is telling me to do, so that none of that type of thing will ever happen to me again.”
What makes Joshua Van different now isn’t just that he’s winning, it’s how he’s winning. He fights with awareness. He celebrates, but he stays grounded. And he never forgets how it felt to hit the mat after that loss to Johnson. He’s not chasing highlight reels anymore, he’s chasing mastery. Every fight now is personal. Every training session matters. And the fans see it, not just in the way he throws a punch, but in how he carries himself.
Joshua Van’s story isn’t just about wins and losses. It’s about transformation. It’s about a young man learning through heartbreak and humility. To him, greatness doesn’t come from avoiding pain. It comes from growing through it. And for that, he doesn’t just have the respect of the UFC, he’s earned the hearts of the fans.
