Van was born in Hakha, the capital of Myanmar’s Chin State. His family fled the country when he was around nine, spent roughly two years in Malaysia, then resettled in Houston when he was about 12, per reporting cited by Fightomic and The Straits Times. He has spoken publicly about wanting to keep attention on Myanmar’s situation through his career, and about the flag-approval headaches tied to representing the country. He picked up MMA after the move to Texas, made his amateur debut in 2020, and turned pro in 2021. He built his record on the Texas regional circuit, won a Fury FC title, and arrived in the UFC in mid-2023.
He fights as a high-volume pressure striker with finishing power in both hands. The numbers back it up: 8.43 significant strikes landed per minute at 62% accuracy, with 61% takedown accuracy when he chooses to wrestle. He’s short for the division at 5'5" but makes up for it with cardio, body work, and a willingness to trade in the pocket through three and five rounds. The one hole on the résumé came in July 2024, when Charles Johnson knocked him out in the third round of a fight Van was trailing late — a result he’s described in interviews as the night his preparation got serious.
The breakthrough run is short and dense. After the Johnson loss, Van strung together unanimous decisions over Édgar Cháirez at Noche UFC and Cody Durden at UFC 310, then dominated Rei Tsuruya at UFC 313. At UFC 316 he stopped Bruno Silva in the third round. One day later, with Manel Kape injured, he took Brandon Royval on three weeks’ notice for UFC 317 and out-pointed the top contender over three rounds. Six months later at UFC 323, he knocked out champion Alexandre Pantoja in 26 seconds to take the belt. In May 2026 he made his first defense, stopping Tatsuro Taira by fifth-round TKO at UFC 328.
Van sits atop a flyweight division he has cleared at speed, with one title defense already in the books and the second-youngest champion mark in UFC history next to his name. The open question is whether anyone at 125 can solve his pace before age starts working against the rest of the field. For now, the youngest champion in the promotion is also one of its busiest.