LAS VEGAS – Joshua Van beat Edgar Chairez with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 306 at Sphere in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Van, who stepped up when Kevin Borjas pulled out and got back in the win column just two months after his first UFC loss.
Result: Joshua Van def. Edgar Chairez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Updated records: Van (11-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC), Chairez (11-6 MMA, 1-2 UFC)
Key stats: Van landed 183 total strikes in the fight and had three takedowns.
“That motherf*cker is tough, man. And the thing is, he’s got a long-ass arm. So even though I pulled back a little bit, his arm was still reaching me. It was a little new to me, fighting someone as long as him. But he was tough. That’s all I can say: He was a tough motherf*cker.
“… The second round, I hurt him. But Mexicans are tough. He won’t give up. Watching all his fights – I did my little homework this time around – he didn’t like the body shots. That’s why we tried to go down to the body.”
“I was at the bar taking a shot when I got the call for this. I thought I was going to be taking a break for two months or so. I was enjoying my best life. The call came, two weeks’ notice, and we took the fight. This week was a good experience for me. I loved every single moment.”
“I want to fight that boy Cody Durden. I want to fight that boy. If not, I was from Myanmar, but I was raised by this Mexican and we hate lazy people. I don’t like that ‘Lazyboy,’ (Ronaldo Rodriguez). So we can run it.”
To hear more from Van, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.