Joshua Van reacts after UFC Vegas 93 fight gets canceled: "I can't force them to fight"

It seems UFC flyweight Joshua Van can't get a break this year. After three straight bouts getting canceled on him, the Burmese warrior's clash with Russia's Tagir Ulanbekov also got scrapped.

The UFC released an official statement on the bout cancellation, citing that Ulanbekov missed the flyweight limit by an amount (3.5 pounds) that warranted them to just cancel the bout altogether.

Here's the statement:

​

"Due to Tagir Ulanbekov weighing in over the flyweight limit, his bout with Joshua Van has been removed from this weekend’s event."

Van took to his Instagram stories and said:

​

"I'm sorry guy !! I can't force dem to fight"

He even posted what he planned to do, in case the bout pushed through:

​

"I would've leglock his ass"

Here's screenshots of Van's stories:

Joshua Van's Instagram stories. [Image credit: @fearlessmma1 on Instagram]

---

Joshua Van vs Tagir Ulanbekov is just one of many UFC fight cancellations this month

It seems the bout between Van and Ulanbekov is just the tip of the iceberg of a series of fight cancellations by the UFC this month. One of the most talked about is Khamzat Chimaev pulling out of his high-profile clash with former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at UFC Saudi Arabia next weekend.

It turned out that the Chechen fighter suffered an illness and had been replaced by 15-1 Ikram Aliskerov.

The biggest and perhaps most heartbreaking cancellation was the long-awaited return of Conor McGregor at UFC 303 getting postponed. The bout took nearly two years to materialize but then got scrapped just weeks before taking place.

As per UFC president Dana White, the fight was canceled due to McGregor suffering an injury. This came on the heels of a week-long storm of rumors ravaging the MMA world. The new main event of UFC 303 is now a world title rematch between UFC light heavyweight kingpin Alex Pereira facing former divisional ruler, Jiri Prochazka.

​