Joshua Van walked into UFC Vegas 115 to corner a teammate and walked out with his upcoming title defense postponed, a change that just handed Paulo Costa a massive opportunity. After Van got his hands on the flyweight title after a win over Alexandre Pantoja in December last year, the UFC confirmed in February that he would make his first title defense against Tatsuro Taira as the co-main event at UFC 327 on April 11, in Miami. However, now there’s a change in the plan.

Van was at Meta Apex on Saturday night, helping 4oz Fight Club teammate Dakota Hope warm up for his UFC debut against Kai Kamaka III in the prelims at UFC Vegas 115. While Hope lost the fight via split decision, Van also appears to have lost his spot on the UFC 327 card. According to the update, the Van vs Taira bout has been moved to UFC 328 next month. Instead, Paulo Costa vs Azamat Murzakanov light heavyweight bout has been moved into the co-main slot of the Jiří Procházka vs Carlos Ulberg headliner next week.

“Flyweight title fight between Joshua Van and Tatsuro Taira moves to May 9th in Newark at #UFC328,” journalist Marcel Dorff shared on X. “Azamat Murzakanov vs. Paulo Costa will now be the co-headliner next week at #UFC327.”

“Damn, sucks Van vs. Taira is off #UFC327, especially since I will be there,” MMA journalist Adam Martin added. “But the card is still great. One of the best cards of the year.”

According to ESPN, the postponement of the flyweight title bout was due to a minor injury Van suffered. The card, headlined by Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland on May 9, earlier featured Alexander Volkov vs Waldo Cortes-Acosta as the co-main event. But now the bout has been pushed further down the card to make way for the flyweight title fight.

Meanwhile, UFC 327 gets a boost, as Paulo Costa faces Azamat Murzakanov in his light heavyweight debut. Costa returns for the first time since his July 2025 win over Roman Kopylov, while Murzakanov aims to extend his unbeaten run in the promotion.

Taira enters the bout riding back-to-back wins since his narrow split decision loss to Brandon Royval in October 2024. Most recently, he delivered a dominant performance against former champion Brandon Moreno at UFC 323, earning his first UFC title opportunity. Regardless, what are the chances that Taira becomes the new champion, taking advantage of Van’s injury?

Manel Kape talks Joshua Van vs. Tatsuro Taira

Flyweight No. 2 contender Manel Kape has shared his thoughts on the bout between Joshua Van and Tatsuro Taira, offering a clear prediction on how the fight might unfold.

“It’s an interesting fight – I don’t know,” Kape said. “To beat Joshua, you have to be very aggressive, and I don’t know if Tatsuro Taira has that aggression on the striking going forward. He had an incredible takedown defense. Rei Tsuruya, in my opinion, is more aggressive than Tatsuro Taira.

While acknowledging Taira’s grappling strength, Kape questioned whether that would be enough. 

“Tatsuro Taira is more like… not so aggressive striking, but more aggressive on the ground, but the fight doesn’t start on the ground.”

Ultimately, Kape leaned toward the champion winning the fight.

“I don’t know, man. I think I’m going with Joshua Van.”

It appears the fight may have been postponed a few days, but the pros expect the outcome to remain the same. While the date has changed, the stakes for Van’s first title defense have only intensified, with the division’s top contenders watching closely.