By:  | December 23, 2023 12:07 pm

Joshua Van will return to the octagon at UFC Vegas 84. The Burmese flyweight has stepped in as a late replacement for Denys Bondar and will face Felipe Bunes on January 13th.

Van (9-1) has won his first two UFC fights. He was born in Myanmar but lives and trains in Houston and has only just started to acquire a fan following in his homeland.

Van’s win at UFC 295 brought him to the attention of the Burmese audience and he has received encouragement from Aung La Nsang, who knows exactly what it means to be a star in Myanmar. The 22 year old will have to put his plans for Christmas on hold after getting the call to replace Bondar.

Bunes (13-6) trains with the Pitbull Brothers. He will be making his UFC debut and earned a contract after knocking out Yuma Horiuchi at LFA 149.

Best of the rest

A light heavyweight fight with title implications headlines the card at the Apex Centre. #3 ranked Johnny Walker (21-7) takes on #7 ranked Magomed Ankalaev (18-1-1) in the main event.

In bantamweight action Farid Basharat (11-0) has been matched with Tyler Lapilus (19-3). The Afghan is undefeated and won his first two UFC fights in 2023.

Former Rizin bantamweight champion Manel Kape (19-6) faces Matheus Nicolau (19-3-1) in a rematch. After a slow start to his UFC career the Portugese fighter has put together a four fight winning streak.

UFC Vegas 84, Las Vegas, January 13th
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Johnny Walker (Light Heavyweight)
Matheus Nicolau vs. Manel Kape (Flyweight)
Jim Miller vs. Gabriel Benítez (Lightweight)
Ketlen Vieira vs. Macy Chiasson (Bantamweight)
Ricky Simón vs. Mario Bautista (Bantamweight)
Phil Hawes vs. Brunno Ferreira (Middleweight)
Andrei Arlovski vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta (Heavyweight)
Marcus McGhee vs. Gaston Bolanos (Bantamweight)
Farid Basharat vs. Taylor Lapilus (Bantamweight)
Tom Nolan vs. Nikolas Motta (Lightweight)
Westin Wilson vs. Jean Silva (Featherweight)
Preston Parsons vs. Matthew Semelsberger (Welterweight)
Felipe Bunes vs. Joshua Van (Flyweight)