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

Ian Machado Garry has gotten plenty of flak for his friendly gestures during the UFC 330 main event, but his coach thinks it's overblown.

Garry challenged Makhachev for the welterweight title in Philadelphia. The August clash marked Makhachev's first title defense at 170 pounds. Garry was able leave marks on Makhachev's face, but the offensive output wasn't enough to break the glass ceiling. The pound-for-pound great dropped Garry in the second round with a head kick, and his control was good enough to secure a unanimous decision victory.

In the aftermath of UFC 330, some fans, experts, and even Dana White have taken Garry to task over being friendly with Makhachev despite being down in the final round. Garry's coach Diego Lima told MMAFighting.com that Garry's gestures shouldn't be put under a microscope.

“I swear I didn't notice it,†Lima said. “And I don't think the hugs influenced anything at all. Him greeting his opponent, honestly… Charles [Oliveira] does that too. Charles hugs everyone when the round ends, when the round starts. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. That didn't change the outcome of the fight. Thank God, Ian is a family man, a respectful guy, extremely polite. If he wants to greet people more, let him greet people more. There's no problem with that.â€

Garry recently called for a title eliminator against surging undefeated contender Michael Morales. There is a strong belief within the MMA community that Carlos Prates will ultimately be Makhachev's next challenger, but nothing has been made official at this time. Makhachev has said he wishes to return before Ramadan, which would mean he'll be back inside the Octagon by Jan. 2027.

Do you think the backlash towards Ian Machado Garry for hugging Islam Makhachev was warranted, or do you believe it was overblown. Be sure to share your opinion in the comments below.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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