By:  | April 26, 2024 1:48 pm

There has been a change to the UFC 302 card. Joshua Van was originally set to face Su Mudaerji at the Prudential Centre in New Jersey on June 1st (local time) but now finds himself matched with Tatsuro Taira.

Taira (15-0) was booked to face Tim Elliott at at UFC Vegas 92 on May 18th. Instead of fighting in front of a handful of fans at the Apex Centre he will now be competing in front of a much larger live audience on a pay per view card.

Taira has won all five of his UFC fights and is currently ranked #13 at flyweight. He only signed for the promotion in 2022 but is already the top Japanese fighter on the roster.

Van (10-1) had been scheduled to face Lucas Rocha earlier this month. That bout was cancelled when the Brazilian withdrew after suffering an injury in training.

He was booked to face Mudaerji instead but now finds himself matched with one of the most exciting flyweight prospects on the roster. Van hails from Burma and has won two fights out of two in the octagon.

Undefeated Korean

There are three flyweights confirmed for the card. Undefeated Korean Park Hyun-Sung has been matched with André Lima in New Jersey.

Park (9-0) won the Road to UFC flyweight tournament last year and is coming off a submission win over Shannon Ross. The 28 year old is one of just a handful of undefeated fighters on the UFC roster.

Lima (8-0) is in a similar situation having never lost a fight. He recently became the first fighter to ever register a UFC win courtesy of an opponent being disqualified for biting.

Best of the rest

It isn’t clear exactly which fight will headline this card. It could turn out to be the middleweight bout between Roman Dolidze (12-3) and Anthony Hernandez (12-2).

UFC 302, New Jersey, June 1st
Roman Dolidze vs. Anthony Hernandez (Middleweight)
Niko Price vs. Jeremiah Wells (Welterweight)
Mickey Gall vs. Bassil Hafez (Welterweight)
Philip Rowe vs. Jake Matthews (Welterweight)
Grant Dawson vs. Joe Solecki (Lightweight)
Joselyne Edwards vs. Ailín Pérez (Bantamweight)
Michelle Waterson-Gomez vs. Gillian Robertson (Strawweight)
Park Hyun-Sung vs. André Lima (Flyweight)
Joshua Van vs. Tatsuro Taira (Flyweight)