Ilia Topuria at lightweight and Joshua Van at men's flyweight represent welcomed excitement at the top of those divisions.

Van's power and timing proved the difference. In Round 1, he out-timed Royval in the exchanges and appeared to land the more effective shots. Although Rovval came on strong in Round 3, Van dug deeped and out-dogged "Raw Dawg.

In the main event of UFC 317, the vacant lightweight title is on the line. Former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria (16-0) officially makes […]

It's Sunday and Alexandre Pantoja is champion. Come Monday, however, he'll be the challenger. At least that's the case in his mind. Minutes after his UFC 317 win over Kai Kara-France, Pantoja (30-5 MMA,

It’s just not in Brandon Royval’s nature to back down from a challenge. Originally scheduled to face Manel Kape on the card, Royval took a big risk accepting the fight against a much lower ranked opponent like Van but he acknowledged that’s just how he’s built.

The UFC flyweight division has a new #1 contender and his name is Joshua Van. The 23-year-old fighter from Houston, by way of Myanmar, became the next title challenger overnight with a ‘fight of the year’ worthy win against Brandon Royval at UFC 317.