The UFC will not have Islam Makhachev defend his welterweight title at UFC 336, set for January 30, 2027, at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. Instead, the promotion created an interim welterweight title, pitting Carlos Prates against Michael Morales. In the card’s other championship fight, flyweight champion Joshua Van, who trains out of Houston, makes the third defense of his belt against Manel Kape, the two meeting for the first time.
A Makhachev fight against Prates had been the original plan for Toronto, according to a Friday report from journalist Ariel Helwani, who first floated the pairing as the card’s planned headliner. That plan fell through, and Jon Anik confirmed the new matchups during Saturday’s UFC 333 broadcast from Abu Dhabi, where Alexander Volkanovski and Petr Yan had just retained their own titles hours earlier. It will be the promotion’s first card in Toronto since 2024.
Why Makhachev Is Out
Makhachev, the undisputed welterweight champion, was originally slated to headline Toronto. The January date did not work for him because Ramadan begins the following week, according to Fightful and MMA News. With no title defense possible that night, the UFC created an interim welterweight championship for the card instead. Anik said Makhachev’s next title defense is targeted for sometime between May and July 2027, with no opponent named yet. Makhachev keeps his undisputed status in the meantime, and the interim belt is expected to unify with his once he returns, the standard path the UFC has followed with past interim titleholders.
Prates and Morales Fight for the Interim Belt
Carlos Prates, nicknamed “The Nightmare” and a member of Brazil’s Fighting Nerds team, is 24-7 overall and 7-1 inside the Octagon. His only UFC loss came against Ian Machado Garry in April 2025. Since then, he has finished three straight opponents, including former champions Leon Edwards and Jack Della Maddalena, the latter in May in Perth. Every one of his UFC wins has come by stoppage, and this is the first UFC title shot of his career.
Michael Morales, a 27-year-old Ecuadorian, is unbeaten in 19 professional fights and 7-0 in the UFC. He has finished three straight opponents in the first round, Neil Magny, Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady, the last of those in November 2025 at UFC 322. He has not fought since, and like Prates, he is chasing his first UFC title. A win in Toronto would keep his undefeated record intact and add a UFC belt to it.
Van Puts the Flyweight Belt on the Line
Van, the flyweight champion, is 18-2 and riding an eight-fight win streak. He won the title in December 2025 at UFC 323, when Alexandre Pantoja suffered a first-round injury and the fight was stopped in Van’s favor. Van defended it against Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328, then beat Pantoja again, this time by decision, in a September rematch at UFC 331. He currently sits fourth in Uncrowned’s pound-for-pound rankings. Toronto will be his third defense of the belt in just over a year. Track the division’s full picture on our UFC rankings page.
Manel Kape, a former RIZIN champion, is 23-7 and has won four straight, eight of his last nine. His most recent finishes came against Brandon Royval and, in June, Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC Vegas 119. This will be the first UFC title opportunity of his career.
The UFC’s Return to Toronto
The promotion has not held an event in Toronto since UFC 297 in January 2024, when Dricus du Plessis dethroned Sean Strickland for the middleweight title. UFC 336 will be held at Scotiabank Arena. Sportsnet has been the UFC’s Canadian broadcast partner, but numbered cards there had remained locked behind pay-per-view. Starting in January, those numbered events move to Paramount+ in Canada, according to Heavy.com and Cageside Press, giving Canadian fans the same access American subscribers already have.
What Toronto Means for Both Divisions
The promotion opens its 2027 schedule with a Fight Night on January 16 in Dallas, two weeks ahead of UFC 336. The full slate is on our UFC schedule page.
The stakes in Toronto reach beyond the interim belt itself. Prates has already finished two former champions in his last two outings, Edwards and Della Maddalena, putting Saturday’s winner in position to be viewed as the leading contender once Makhachev returns. At flyweight, a Kape win would end Van’s eight-fight streak and hand Kape the first UFC title of his career.
