Preview: UFC on ESPN 59 Prelims

Flyweights

Joshua Van (10-1, 3-0 UFC) vs. Charles Johnson (15-6, 4-4 UFC)

ODDS: Van (-205), Johnson (+170)

Will Van finally get his second fight of 2024? Van came to the UFC halfway through 2023, at which point he immediately established himself as one of the best prospects in the sport regardless of division. Van made his professional debut late in 2021 and needed less than two years to prove he had outgrown the regional scene. A vicious and pressure-heavy striker, Van was showing the start of what has already become a strong wrestling and grappling game when the UFC picked him up on late notice. If there’s one criticism of Van, it’s that he tends to need a round to feel things out before taking over a fight, but he has otherwise checked every box, improving every time out, showing new skills and attempting to keep an active schedule. It’s that latter point that has been the main issue for Van, as he has constantly been willing to take late-notice fights, only to have the fates intervene. His January win over Felipe Bunes saw him step in on short notice, but he has since had four different opponents fall through for various reasons in the last three months. The 22-year-old prodigy figures to finally get a fight here in a thrown-together bout against Johnson, who has made a name keeping up the type of schedule about which Van has dreamed. This marks Johnson’s ninth fight in less than two years under the UFC banner and fourth in six months, and his campaign has been a bit of an adventure. A former Olympic hopeful as a track star, “InnerG” is about as athletically talented as anyone in the flyweight division, but he can sometimes get a bit comfortable in relying on his physical gifts. Johnson had a highly successful regional career, but his championship fights saw him lean on his cardio and durability to just coast things out and wait for his opportunity to take over, usually in the later rounds. However, in three-round fights against better competition in the UFC, Johnson has lost that margin for error and slowly learned to adapt. After suffering a batch of hard-fought decision losses, he has learned to overcome some slow starts and put his foot on the gas to score wins over Azat Maksum and Jake Hadley this year. Both men are slow starters, so the first round might be a bit rough, but this should turn into a barnburner by the third. Van picks up the pace and the violence as his fights go on, and Johnson is both adaptive enough and durable enough to hold his ground and provide some answers. Van should be able to outpace Johnson for the win, but this should be an excellent and hard-fought affair. The pick is Van via decision.

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