Michael Aswell Jr. had barely finished getting his hand raised at UFC 331 before he was already thinking about his “brother” Joshua Van. Forget the win. Forget the two-fight skid he had just snapped. Aswell had one mission after edging JooSang Yoo by split decision at Crypto.com Arena: get back inside and watch Van fight for UFC gold.

And he wasn’t shy about asking for a little help. During his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, ‘The Texas Kid’ turned his attention away from his own win and made a hilarious request.

“And Joe, if you could help me out and try to get me back into this arena so I can watch my brother fight, that’d be a blessing,” Aswell asked Rogan.

And as expected, the UFC commentator didn’t hesitate with his response.

“We’ll get you back in here. Congratulations, sir,” he replied.

That request might sound simple, but it’s actually a bit of a headache. Once fighters are done fighting inside the Octagon, they usually aren’t free to just hang around and grab a seat in the crowd.

Post-fight medical checks, media obligations, and all the usual UFC duties come first, and they typically don’t have a regular ticket waiting for them in the stands either. But Michael Aswell Jr. clearly wasn’t about to let that stop him.

He had a pretty good reason for wanting back inside: Joshua Van’s title fight was personal. ‘The Fearless’ is putting his UFC flyweight title on the line against Alexandre Pantoja in a rematch at UFC 331, and there’s plenty at stake for both men.

Their first fight ended in bizarre fashion when Pantoja suffered an arm injury less than 30 seconds in, allowing Van to walk away with the belt without a real chance to prove himself against the former champion.

Now, the 24-year-old gets the chance to properly establish himself as champion, while Alexandre Pantoja gets his shot at taking the belt back.

And for Michael Aswell Jr., this isn’t just another fight on the UFC 331 card. Him and ‘The Fearless’ are close friends and training partners at 4oz Fight Club in Houston, Texas, with ‘The Texas Kid’ even pointing to his training with Joshua Van as something that helped him prepare for his own UFC 331 matchup.

“It’s really fast, it’s a lot of combination attacks, and it’s very tricky because it’s often body attacks,” Aswell said of training with Van during the UFC 331 post-fight press conference.

Sparring with the flyweight champion also forced Aswell Jr. to get comfortable being uncomfortable. He’s usually the one pushing opponents backward, but constantly having Joshua Van come at him in the gym taught him how to deal with that same pressure from the other side.

“Honestly, the sparring experience with him helped me greatly,” Aswell said. “It is difficult to deal with when someone is pressing hard. I usually put pressure on my opponent, but if I spar with someone putting pressure on me, I can learn to fight back.”

And that experience came in handy against JooSang Yoo. ‘The Texas Kid’ stayed aggressive for all three rounds, refusing to let Yoo take control of the fight.

After 15 minutes of back-and-forth action, two judges ultimately gave Michael Aswell Jr. the nod, handing him a 29-28 split-decision victory and finally getting him back in the win column.

And according to the 25-year-old, the victory at UFC 331 meant considerably more to him than simply getting another win on his record.

Michael Aswell Jr. admits he was scared ahead of the UFC 331 decision win

‘The Texas Kid’ came into the fight at UFC 331 desperate to snap his two-fight skid, and he wasted no time bringing the pressure against JooSang Yoo.

Michael Aswell Jr. kept stepping into range with combinations and found a home for his overhand right, while Yoo tried to keep him at the end of his jab and leg kicks.

Round two was just as close. The two traded at range before eventually getting into the pocket, with the 25-year-old landing another clean right hand during a clinch break. ‘Zombie Jr.’ though, kept messing with his rhythm with straight punches and kicks.

Then came the third. The South-Korean fighter turned up the pressure and started putting his own combinations together before finally getting Michael Aswell Jr. to the mat. He managed to stay on top for a decent stretch, but ‘The Texas Kid’ did a good job defending, worked his way back to his feet, and finished the fight standing.

Still, that late takedown gave the 25-year-old plenty to sweat about. With the fight going to the judges, there was no guarantee the scorecards would go his way.

When the judges finally revealed the scorecards, it was about as close as it gets. Two judges had Aswell winning 29-28, while the third scored the fight 29-28 for JooSang Yoo. And to be blunt, Aswell wasn’t expecting that kind of drama.

“I thought I won the first two rounds for sure,” he said during the press conference. “My opponent made a takedown at the end of the third round, so I thought I might give up that round.

“So when the split decision came out, I was embarrassed, and honestly, I was scared. This is because the judgment results do not always come out in an advantageous way.”

That uncertainty made the announcement hit even harder for the 25-year-old, especially after everything that had gone wrong leading into UFC 331.

Michael Aswell Jr. had recently signed a new UFC contract, but that didn’t exactly make him feel safe. He pointed out that even fighters with solid records can end up getting cut, and with two straight losses already on his record, he knew another defeat could put him in a seriously uncomfortable spot.

So that split decision wasn’t just about getting his hand raised. For ‘The Texas Kid,’ it was about finally getting himself out of a hole that had started to feel pretty deep.

“I feel really good. I thought I had to win this game because I was in a two-game losing streak,” he added. “At UFC, players with 7 wins and 1 loss and 6 wins and 2 losses will also be released.

“Three consecutive defeats are a terrible feeling, and I really hate losing. No one is safe in the UFC.”

Now, instead of sweating over his UFC future, the 25-year-old can finally breathe a little, enjoy the win, and turn his attention to something else: getting back inside the arena to watch his guy Joshua Van defend his flyweight title in the UFC 331 main event.

After everything he just went through, getting a spot in the crowd might be the easy part.