Joshua Van has given his coaches credit for transforming him into a record-breaking striker in his first few years in the UFC.
Following his win over Edgar Chairez at UFC 306, Joshua Van cemented himself as the top striker in UFC history.
According to UFC Records, no fighter with five or more UFC fights has a higher average strikes landed per minute, ranking him above even dominant UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall.
With an average of 8.20 strikes landed per minute, the dangerous and efficient Van has been one of the most exciting fighters in the world as he prepares for UFC 317.
Joshua Van shouted out his coaches for his incredible striking records
Van’s incredible striking record is all down to muscle memory, and he thanked his team for the training that got him in a place to dominate in the octagon.
The 23-year-old spoke with ESPN MMA in the build-up to UFC 317, where he admitted that his jiu-jitsu coaches didn’t know any combos, so he just learned to jab instead.
Van said: “Shout out to my coaches, man. You know, even the jiu-jitsu guys. You saw my jab was on point in my last fight because of him.
“He doesn’t know any combos, so all we did was jab and things like that. So when it comes to fighting, it’s just muscle memory, you know?”
Van has a higher strikes-per-minute record than UFC Heavyweight champion Aspinall, who managed 8.07 to Van’s 8.20.
Joshua Van took a short-notice fight to take on Brandon Royval at UFC 317
Van is one of the busiest men in MMA today as he took another fight on short notice to compete at UFC 317.
The Burmese-American fighter last competed at UFC 316, where he defeated Bruno Silva just months after beating Rei Tsuruya at UFC 313.
He took the fight against Brandon Royval just weeks after his last fight at very short notice, after Manel Kape broke his foot in training.
With a 7-1 record in the UFC so far, this will certainly be Van’s biggest challenge yet.
If he can get past Royval then there could be a title shot in the future for “The Fearless”.