Flyweights take the spotlight on the UFC 316 undercard, as Joshua Van squares off with Bruno “Bulldog” Silva.
's return to New Jersey and it comes with a solid slate of eight prelims. Flyweights get a rare featured prelim spot as the UFC looks to highlight top prospectOdds: Van , Silva Van continues to have as much upside as any young fighter in the UFC, but he's certainly intent on taking the hard road to get there.
Somehow still just 23 years old, Van made his professional debut in late 2021 and proved to be an absolute prodigy; he consistently added new tools from fight to fight, including a complete wrestling game in a matter of months, and was clearly UFC-ready about a year and a half into his career. Van's continued to succeed more often than not with his hard-charging style, winning six of his seven UFC bouts rather handily, but what's most notable is the ridiculous pace he's keeping up in terms of his schedule; Van's regional career saw him pack eight fights into fourteen months, and this marks the eleventh date Van has fought at or been scheduled to fight at in under two years on the roster. That'd be less of a worry if it wasn't for Van's approach; he's a consistently aggressive fighter that takes time to settle into fights, often tanking a ton of damage early but reliably heating up and becoming an absolute terror by the third round. Thus far, the durability of youth has mostly made that style a non-factor, but there is the concern that Van's continued acceptance of and reliance on his ability to take a beating will eventually result in him burning out at a younger age than expected. Three months after his last fight, Van's unsurprisingly back in action againstfor what figures to be another tough war. Silva's on the shortlist of most underrated fighters on the UFC roster - at one point,"Bulldog" was even the less notable of two Bruno Silvas in the UFC - but he's been able to show out impressively against some lower-level competition, figuring out his opponents and scoring some brutal finishes despite not being much of an athlete. But in a division as dependent on athleticism as flyweight, the Brazilian has a clear ceiling, most clearly shown in what wound up as a one-sided beating againstthis past December. That figures to once again rear its head here against an elite prospect like Van, even though Silva has a better shot of cracking Van early and scoring a knockout than most of Van's previous opponents. But the likeliest scenario is still Van absorbing some early abuse to take over another fight by the end; the pick is Van via third-round knockout.Coach: Sean O'Malley Won’t Dye Hair for Title Rematch at UFC 316Coach: Sean O'Malley Won’t Dye Hair for Title Rematch at UFC 316Daniel Donchenko Tops Richard Martins on Episode 2 of 'The Ultimate Fighter 33'Kevin Lee Joins PFL Roster, Gets Spot in Lightweight Semifinals
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