Joshua Van Bawi Thawng, 21, is the only Burmese mixed martial artist is currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, an MMA promotion is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. He was born in Hakha, Chin State, Myanmar.
With a total area of about 12.50 square miles, Hakha is the largest city in Chin State. The city is home to Hakha University, Hakha Educational College, Chin Christian University and Government Technical Institute, Hakha.
Joshua Van
Van is fighting out of Houston, Texas, USA. He lives there with his parents.
Before joining the UFC, Van competed in Fury Fighting Championship. He and his parents moved from Myanmar to Malaysia in 2011 and from Malaysia to Houston in 2013.
All of Van’s eight bouts before joining the UFC were in the FFC. On October 17, 2021, he made his professional MMA debut.
On December 12, 2020, Van defeated Luke Guillen in an amateur MMA bout. The Hakha native defeated Americo Garcia on March 6, 2021, Drake Lopez on April 18, 2021 and Antonio Figueiredo on June 26, 2021 in amateur MMA bouts.
“UFC on ABC 5”
On June 24, 2023, Van made his UFC debut at “UFC on ABC 5” at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. He fought Zhalgas Zhumagulov, 34, of Aktobe, Kazakhstan in the flyweight division.
Andrew Glenn served as the referee. After three 5-minute rounds, he raised the hand of Van, who was declared the winner via split decision.
Losing to Van downgraded Zhumagulov’s professional MMA record to 14 wins and 9 losses. The Kazakh MMA fighter is now riding a four-bout losing streak.
On the other hand, Van now has 8 wins and 1 loss. On December 19, 2021, he was submitted via rear-naked choke by Devon Jackson of Washington, USA at “FFC 55” in Houston.
CONAN Daily 