UFC 327 loses title fight as Joshua Van withdraws from clash against Tatsuro Taira

Just a week out from the promotion’s return to Miami, UFC 327 has unfortunately taken a big hit.

On April 11, the premier promotion returns to Miami for UFC 327, headlined by a vacant light heavyweight title fight between Jiri Prochazka and Carlos Ulberg.

In the co-main event, fans were set to see Joshua Van make the first defense of his flyweight title, taking on Japanese star, Tatsuro Taira.

However, just a week out from the event in The Magic City, the card has taken a huge hit, continuing what has been a rough start to 2026 for the promotion.

Joshua Van out of UFC 327 title defense

This Saturday evening, reports from Guilherme Cruz suggest that Van has withdrawn from his flyweight title defense against Taira, due to ‘undisclosed reasons’.

The Myanmar native won the 125lb title in December last year after Alexandre Pantoja suffered an injury early on in their title fight at UFC 323.

It seemed as though the two would fight in an immediate rematch, however, the Brazilian veteran was unable to return from injury as soon as the UFC wanted him to, and so Taira was called upon.

‘The Best’ received the call after bouncing back from his loss against Brandon Royval with back-to-back wins over Hyun Sung Park and Brandon Moreno.

However, with the fight falling out so close to the event, it is unclear what the UFC will do from here and if they will re-book the fight for whenever Van is able to return.

According to Cruz’s reports, the UFC has considered its options over the past few days, regarding whether to attempt to find a replacement for Van.

If that is the case, it is unclear whether the bout would be a vacant flyweight title fight or an interim title fight, depending on the reason for Van’s withdrawal.

Manel Kape will likely be one of the options considered, however, he is set to fight Kyoji Horiguchi on June 20.