Edgar Chairez says a Van rematch would look different after UFC Fight Night 278 finish

Edgar Chairez pressed his case for a bigger flyweight moment on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 278, stopping Bruno Silva on the prelims with a slick rear-naked choke at 4:13 of Round 1. The win extended Chairez’s momentum to three consecutive victories and earned him a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus, a jump in both profile and pressure for a division where challengers are expected to make their statements quickly.

The finish matched the storyline Chairez has been building in recent fights: structured striking early, then capitalizing once opponents are compromised. In his matchup with Silva, he used distance and sharp boxing to set up the moments that mattered before turning the sequence into a grappling finish. Claro Sports’ recap described the fight beginning with Chairez working jabs to manage range, forcing Silva into exchanges that ended with the rear-naked choke submission inside the first round.

For Chairez, the night was not only about collecting another win. In the immediate aftermath, he leaned into the most obvious matchup for the title picture: Joshua Van. Chairez’s previous UFC outing against Van ended in a decision loss in September 2024, and he framed that result as narrower than it might look on paper. “It was a tough fight. It was very, very close,” he told reporters at his post-fight news conference. He added that in their first meeting, “it could have been different,” and insisted that “you will see that” in a hypothetical Van-Chairez 2.

Van, meanwhile, has continued to define the current era at 125 pounds. Van won the flyweight title after an upset of Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 323 in December 2025, according to UFC’s own event coverage. He later defended the belt against Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328, with GMA News Online reporting that Van stopped Taira in the fifth round. With the champion actively holding the strap and the division’s top contenders jockeying for position, Chairez’s timing gives him a direct path to the “prove it again” argument.

Chairez’s comments also reflect a typical contender’s strategy, staying public while his stock rises. He has described this run as proof that a rematch would not mirror the first fight, and he tied that belief to what he believes he is showing “right now.” From a matchmaking standpoint, it is the kind of message that gives the UFC something simple to weigh: if Van-Chairez was close once, does Chairez’s latest form justify taking that risk again, or does the champion instead move toward other established names?

What to watch next is whether Chairez’s victory forces the UFC to address the rematch conversation, or whether it redirects him into another “top 10” test before a title shot. Tribuna reported that, after his win, Chairez asked for a fight soon and suggested a top-10 opponent as the next step, making clear he wants rapid follow-through rather than waiting out the division. As of now, no fight date or formal booking for a Van rematch was reported alongside the post-fight comments, so the next development will likely come from UFC announcements rather than speculation.