Joshua
Van wanted to pick Alexander
Volkanovski's brain when they met.

Van met fellow
Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder Volkanovski and
watched him train briefly in Washington, D.C., this past June.
Volkanovski recently praised the flyweight champion's hunger to
learn from him, while Van is grateful for the knowledge the
featherweight champion had to offer.

Joshua Van details what he learned from Alexander Volkanovski
ahead of UFC 331

Van lauded Volkanovski's intelligence, which was evident watching
“The Great†train. The former was also eager to learn from
Volkanovski as they have a similar build. Van respects the
Australian's elite technique and lack of recklessness.

“That guy is a very smart man; I learned so many things from him,â€
Van told MMA Junkie. “Just to be around, not even that long, but
like I was in the same room and learned so much just from watching
him train. Especially Volkanovski, we kind of have the same body
type and things like that. He's a smart fighter; he's not
aggressive, he's technical. So, I want to pick his brain and things
like that. I want to learn as much as I can from guys like that…
Wherever he wants to train, you know I'll be there. That's
Volkanovski we're talking about. He's one of the greats for
sure.â€

Van (17-2) is scheduled to defend his flyweight title in a rematch
against Alexandre
Pantoja (30-6) at UFC
331 on Sept. 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Meanwhile,
Volkanovski (28-4) is set to defend his featherweight title against
Movsar
Evloev (20-0) at
UFC 333 on Oct. 24 at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu
Dhabi.

Tommy
McMillen didn't take his feud with Marwan
Rahiki personally.

McMillen (12-0) and Rahiki (9-0) appeared to have serious bad blood
heading into their recent clash in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship. The featherweight prospects
delivered a barnburner, going toe-to-toe in a back-and-forth
three-round bout to earn Fight of the Night honors. McMillen, who
won via unanimous decision at
Noche UFC 4, discussed the dynamic between the two after the
fight.

Tommy McMillen describes his post-fight exchange with Marwan
Rahiki at Noche UFC 4

Despite the heated build-up to the bout, Rahiki had nothing but
respect in the immediate aftermath of his first professional loss.
He and McMillen seemingly buried the hatchet after the fight as
they bumped fists and exchanged a few words.

McMillen claims Rahiki looked like he was pleading for a show of
mutual respect. “Gun†obliged, considering it was an exciting
fight. McMillen also explains that even though he beefs with his
opponents in the lead-up to his fights, he takes none of it
seriously.

“He was kind of looking at me, pleading for respect,†McMillen told
Full Send MMA. “I was just like, alright, like that was a pretty
cool fight… F*ck outta here, dude. Cause at the end of the day,
even though I'm talking sh*t to these guys, if you go watch back,
I'm smiling all the time. I'm a gangster, down to fight anybody.
It's all fun and games to me.â€

Tommy
McMillen explains the exchange with Marwan
Rahiki at the end of their fight

“He was kind of looking at me pleading for respect. I was just like
alright like that was a pretty cool fight … f**k outta here dude.
It's all fun and games to me†pic.twitter.com/5IFgcGp7cs

— FULL SEND MMA (@full_send_mma)
September 13, 2026

Tom Aspinall's reign as the UFC heavyweight champion might come to an end without being defeated for the gold.

Aspinall initially claimed he was ready to roll and it was up to the UFC brass to make his next fight happen. More recently, Aspinall's representative, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Talent Agency, revealed that the heavyweight titleholder needs to undergo further testing on his eyes before he can return.

The reigning heavyweight champion had to undergo multiple surgeries after suffering a double eye poke against Ciryl Gane back in Oct. 2025. With questions surrounding Aspinall's status, UFC CEO Dana White addressed where things stand during the post-fight press conference for Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn. White isn't ruling out possibly stripping Aspinall of the UFC heavyweight title (via MMAJunkie).

“We'll definitely be talking about that (Aspinall vacating),†White said. “It's one of those – like, Valentina [Shevchenko] doesn't want to tie up the division. And I'm assuming Tom feels the same way. I don't know personally where he is healthwise with everything, but we should clear that up soon.â€

Gane has since captured the interim championship after stopping Alex Pereira via second-round TKO in the UFC Freedom 250 co-main event. With uncertainty surrounding Aspinall, Pereira has been calling for a rematch. A second clash between Gane and Pereira isn't exactly gaining any steam with some naysayers, such as Henry Cejudo, who believes a matchup between “Poatan†and Josh Hokit makes more sense.

White recently denied having any issues with Aspinall despite aligning with his promotional rival Hearn. The UFC boss was hoping that Aspinall would be ready to go, but it appears that won't be the case for now. We'll keep you posted on UFC's plan for the heavyweight title once more details surface.

Do you think Tom Aspinall will be forced to relinquish the UFC Heavyweight Championship? Sound off in the comments below.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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