UFC champ robbed of title after missing press conference featuring Pereira and Oliveira

Joshua Van was not in attendance to promote his third defense of the 125-pound championship, which will face Manel Kape and headline UFC 336 in January 2027.

The challenger was on stage alongside Alex Pereira and Charles Oliveira, and he made sure to comment on Van’s no-show.

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Manel Kape steals UFC flyweight title after Joshua Van no-show

Since an injury to Alexandre Pantoja launched Van’s reign last December, the Burmese star has legitimized his champion status with two successful defenses.

After a win over Tatsuro Taira, Van defeated Pantoja in their UFC 331 rematch last September. His first outing in 2027 was quickly confirmed to be a showdown with Kape.

The two first faced off on stage in New York ahead of Saturday’s UFC 334 event, but the champ barely managed to make it.

The big names attending UFC 335 in December and UFC 336 in January answered the questions, but Kape had one: Where is Van?

“Dana, what the fuck,” Kape said on stage after Van didn’t come out from the back. “Have you forgotten the address of the school bus?”

“Where is my son? I don’t see my son here,” he added.

Kape also stole the title from the flyweight king in front of his empty seat and kept it on his table for the duration of the presser.

After White finished the faceoffs, Van arrived to take his belt back from “Starboy.”

The two UFC 336 co-headliners took the stage, Carlos Prates and Michael Morales exchanging words before their chance to become interim welterweight champion in Toronto.

Meanwhile, Oliveira and Diego Lopes appeared to be promoting the final main event of 2026, as did the duo setting the stage for it in Las Vegas next month, “Poatan” and Sergei Pavlovich.

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