The MMA Guru had it in all caps on Saturday afternoon. “UFC 336 IS OFFICIAL! JOSHUA VAN VS MANEL KAPE! CARLOS PRATES VS MICHAEL MORALES!” he wrote on X, then added a jab at the guy he says was supposed to be on the card: “Was supposed to be Makhachev vs Prates but even though he’s healthy, Makhachev weirdly can never make these quick turnarounds he keeps promising and aiming for...”
That Makhachev part is his claim, and nothing in the reporting so far backs it up. The Van vs. Kape fight is solid. Kevin (@realkevink) posted it earlier in the day, citing sources. Within minutes of each other, MMA Junkie, Championship Rounds and UFC Brasil all confirmed it. Championship Rounds placed the event in Toronto on January 30.
The billing isn’t settled yet. UFC Brasil called Van vs. Kape the main event. MMA Junkie listed it as the co-main. Knockout Daily’s Cagefile data has the card titled Prates vs. Morales, which would put the welterweights on top and the flyweight belt one slot below them.
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The flyweight belt is on the line. Van (18-2) holds it, and UFC Brasil described this as another defense for him. He won the title at UFC 323, which made him the UFC’s first Asian-born male champion and its first champion born in the 2000s. He’s 25. He is also the first fighter from Myanmar to sign with the promotion. His family left Hakha for Malaysia when he was 10 and landed in Houston two years later. He built a 7-1 pro record in Texas at Fury FC before the UFC called. His last fight was September 19.
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Kape (23-7) sits No. 2 in Knockout Daily’s flyweight rankings and fights out of Xtreme Couture. He’s a former Rizin bantamweight champion and has been fighting pro since he was 17. He last fought June 20. MMA Junkie called this a grudge match. That fits Kape, who once slapped Ian McCall at a Rizin weigh-in and had to be pulled apart from him by officials.
Van is a young champion with momentum. Kape has spent years talking his way toward a title shot and now has one. In Brazil the card streams only on Paramount+. On January 30 in Toronto we’ll see whether Kape’s trash talk holds up for five rounds.
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