At just 24, Joshua Van has earned phenom status — but is he already a top-3 flyweight of all time?

As crazy as it sounds, there's a question to be asked about flyweight champion Joshua Van, who at just 24 years — spanning a little more than three years — has already fought a dozen times in the UFC. 

That question is this: If Van were to retire today, just walk away from the game in the heart of his prodigy-defining years, would he already be a top-three flyweight of all time? 

It sounds kind of wild to suggest something like that for a guy who's barely into the springtime of his career, yet it's certainly not an indictment on the rest of the class. Obviously, Demetrious Johnson hovers over the division like a deity with his record-breaking 11 defenses of the UFC flyweight belt, but Van is already in rare company. He is 11-1 in the UFC, with an eight-fight win streak. He now has a couple of title defenses, including one against the man who was popping up on everyone's pound-for-pound lists a short time ago, Alexandre Pantoja.

It's just that, sometimes you need to circle a phenom in the exact moment they're phenoming, just like we did more than a decade ago with Jon Jones, who went about aging the rest of the light heavyweight division in dog years. Jones, who won the title at 23, did some of his best work at 24, the same age Van is now. It was during that year that he took out Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans, all of them former UFC champions. 

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Van is definitely doing the kind of work that would suggest he's already chiseling his features into the rockface of flyweight Mount Rushmore. Consider the numbers that Uncrowned's editor Shaheen Al-Shatti sent my way, which blew my cap back.

Look at this:

Most Significant Strikes Landed: Joshua Van already has the most significant strikes landed in UFC flyweight history, with 1,411, which is 36 more than the previous record-holder, Brandon Moreno (1,375). Moreno, it should be noted, has fought 21 times. That's nine more times than Van.

Second-Longest Win Streak: Van has already distinguished himself as he rides a torrid hot streak, with eight straight wins, which becomes even nuttier when you remember that he lost just a shade over two years ago to Charles Johnson. Obviously, a ways to go to catch "Mighty Mouse," who won 13 straight from 2012-2018, but at this rate Van could get there by early 2028.

Third-Most Flyweight Title Wins: I mean, the dude just won the belt in December. To tie both Moreno and Deiveson Figuiredo in nine months — in the time it takes to have a baby — is incredible. The fact that he was an underdog against Tatsuro Taira and but a slight favorite over Pantoja adds dimension to the feat, as neither were walkovers.  

Fifth-Most Wins: With 11 wins, Van is already near the top in all-time victories. Remember, Demetrious Johnson had 13 in total (he lost his last UFC fight, and the title, to Henry Cejudo at UFC 227). Johnson kicked off his flyweight run with a draw against Ian McCall, back when the UFC held a four-man tournament to introduce the division. All of this to say, Van can catch Johnson with two more freaking wins. Wasn't Johnson in the UFC for a decade?

Fastest Fighter to Land 1,000 Significant Strikes: Nobody turns the volume up on opponents like Van, who plays chin music the way Rachmaninoff plays "Flight of the Bumble Bee" on piano. As offense-first fighter who has some of the best boxing in the UFC, at the rate he's going he may hit 5,000 significant strikes. In fact …

On Pace to Be the Fastest to 1,500 Significant Strikes: And that's in the entire UFC. Not just the flyweight division. In all the divisions. Van is a full 450 significant strikes ahead of where Max Holloway was at this point in his career, which is astounding. The dude is insta-offense, so effusive in his arsenal that any pause in the action becomes a concern. (And even nursing a shoulder injury against Pantoja on Saturday, he hung ridiculous numbers — 181 in total). 

Even with Van being talked about after that performance against Pantoja, perhaps we're not giving him all of the flowers he deserves. He has a likely fight with Manel Kape on deck, and here's guessing come fight night he will be an underdog. He already is in the opening odds. Public perception is that he's perhaps not the phenom that he actually is.  

And honestly, if Van has a knock, maybe it's in what he told Uncrowned's Ariel Helwani on Tuesday after outpointing Pantoja in that Fight of the Night at UFC 331. 

"I get hit too much, man," he said. "I could've done a lot better." 

Pantoja, a physical fighter who crashes forward bodily and throws plenty of punches in close, was able to connect with 147 significant strikes this past Saturday, which is a red flag for any champion. In fact, this is kind of always the case with Van in his title fights thus far. Same was true when he stood in there against Taira. 

He has an astronomical strike absorption rate through three UFC title fights, which is at 5.83 per minute. That's a hell of a lot of punishment. The nearest closest to that number is Pantoja at 3.97, meaning flyweight's been a striking bonanza for a hot minute now. After that it's Figueiredo at 3.35. If you're wondering, Demetrious Johnson, the GOAT of flyweight, had a 2.26 strike absorption rate through his first three title fights.  

"Pantoja's style is not something you can really time," Van told Helwani on Tuesday.  "I don't know if my preparation was the best preparation either."

And still, he's and still.

If Van walked away right now, at just 24 years old, he already would sit among the best flies we've seen in the past 13 years. That's an incredible thing to think about, and — with how often he fights and his age — it's even wilder to think where he can end up.