Manel Kape and Brandon Royval are set for a scrap on March 1 to determine flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja’s next challenger.
Kape scored an impressive third-round knockout against Bruno Silva at the promotion’s final event of 2024. Having won five of his last six, ‘Starboy’ is on the cusp of his first shot at UFC gold. To get there, he’ll have to go through Royval per a report from AG Fight.
According to the report, Kape and Royval will square off on March 1 when the UFC heads back to The APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After seeing his four-fight win streak snapped at the hands of the recently released Muhammad Mokaev, Kape bounced back in a big way against Silva at UFC Tampa. Through two rounds, ‘Starboy’ delivered a dominant performance accompanied by a healthy amount of trash talk and showboating before finishing Silva just under the two-minute mark of the third round.
Kape goes into the title eliminator sporting a 5-3 record inside the Octagon, 20-7 overall, and is the sixth-ranked contender in the flyweight division.
Brandon Rovyal earn a third crack at Pantoja with a win over Manel Kape
Standing across from ‘Starboy’ this spring will be Brandon Royval, a former UFC title challenger coming off an impressive performance against Tatsuro Taira at a Fight Night event in October.
Like Kape, Royval has won five of his last six and is currently sitting on back-to-back wins over Taira and former flyweight titleholder Brandon Moreno. ‘Raw Dog’ also holds victories over Tim Elliott, Kai Kara-France, and Matheus Nicolau. Royval has already gone toe-to-toe with Pantoja on two separate occasions — once before and once after ‘The Cannibal’ claimed the 125-pound crown.
Royval came up short on both occasions, the most recent being their flyweight title tilt at UFC 296. Pantoja earned a decisive unanimous decision victory and has since followed that up with wins against Steve Erceg and two-time RIZIN FF bantamweight champion Kai Asakura.
Royval is currently sitting as the No. 1 ranked contender in the division and holds a 7-3 record in the UFC, 17-7 overall.
