“Fearless” is leveling up.
Yesterday, reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Flyweight champion Joshua Van received his third stripe on his Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) blue belt under former UFC fighter Daniel Pineda, head coach of 4 oz Fight Club, where Van trains.
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For some context, Van only began training mixed martial arts (MMA) in 2020 and turned pro in 2021, meaning it took the 24-year-old roughly five years to reach a three-stripe blue belt — a somewhat normal timeline for someone juggling elite MMA competition like Van, who is fighting four times a year.
Watch the moment below:
Van is fresh off capturing the Flyweight title at UFC 323, where Alexandre Pantoja lost his belt just 30 seconds into the fight after suffering a gruesome arm injury. Instead of applauding Van’s continued development, however, fans wasted no time clowning the new champion online.
Damn, Pantoja really would have submitted him fast
Taira by murder and healthy Pantoja by murder
He would have gotten tapped if lasted more than 30 seconds
We would’ve seen murder live on ESPN I’ll never get over it
Yeah he’s not ending 26 as a champ
Bro no way he’s one more stripe than me
the ufc is a joke
Who is this corny ass coach 3 stripes on a blue belt is f—king hilarious. Just promote him he’s the “champ” I can’t stand this f—king guy or his camp.
Maturing as a ufc fan is realizing that as a purple belt you are higher ranked than many ufc fighters lol
Wins ufc belt via fluke 10 second injury, has never shown a single bit of BJJ; gets awarded a pre loaded 3 stripe blue belt
Meanwhile Alex Pereira got his black belt knocking out Jamahal Hill
Br0 is a two stripe Blue belt world champ, bjj belts don’t mean shit in mma
Of course, this is Twitter — where keyboard warriors with zero fight experience love grading world champions. Van, meanwhile, is busy improving every facet of his game while holding UFC gold.
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Stripes or not, he’s still the Flyweight champion — and none of the critics are tapping anyone.
