UFC cutman Brad Tate has recounted a memorable first encounter with Joshua Van, the current UFC flyweight champion.
Van recently defended his title for the first time with a fifth-round TKO victory against Tatsuro Taira at UFC 300. He is anticipated to face Alexandre Pantoja in a rematch next.
In an interview with Engage, Tate revealed that he met Van in an elevator shortly before the latter’s inaugural UFC fight in 2023, which he won by split decision against Zhalgas Zhumagulov.
According to Tate, Van was not always the composed fighter he appears to be today. Before his UFC debut, Van was extremely anxious and required encouragement from his peers to prepare for his first octagon appearance. Tate shared:
“I met this guy in the elevator. It was a short-notice fight. He was incredibly nervous. He kept saying, ‘Man, I don’t know if I belong here.’ We had to talk to him and hype him up. Then, he showed up at the arena for the first fight of the night. Nobody was even there yet. The guy was nervous as hell. I told him, ‘Bro, calm down. You’ve got this. Flip that switch, you know?’ He responded, ‘I don’t believe I should be here.’ His hands were literally shaking, and he was sweating profusely. Then, they went out for the first fight, and the opponent he was facing wasn’t feeling well.”
