For many years, combat sports has been referred to as a young person's game, which makes sense considering the speed, stamina and elusiveness needed at the elite level, not to mention the physical toll.

But whether it's due to the evolution of full-year training or the advancement of supplements and recovery techniques, the elite level of mixed martial arts has seen an aging resurgence in recent years, where the average age of the 11 current UFC champions now stands at 34, and just one titleholder -- 28-year-old lightweight king Ilia Topuria -- is under the age of 30.

It's because of that development that Joshua Van's story entering this weekend's UFC 323 pay-per-view card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas is so compelling.

Van, a native of Myanmar who migrated to Houston at the age of

See Full Page