Brandon Royval and Manel Kape are booked (again) to close out the UFC’s 2025 campaign.
MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck confirmed with sources with knowledge of the matchup that Royval (17-8) and Kape (21-7) have officially been rescheduled to meet in the main event of UFC Vegas 112, the final UFC show of the year. The bout was first reported by Eurosport.
The flyweight contenders are hoping the third time is a charm for their in-cage duel as they were previously booked to fight this past March (Royval withdrew due to an injury) and then the following June at UFC 317, only for Kape to then withdraw due to an injury. Now, they get another chance to compete with a potential title shot on the line.
Royval, currently No. 4 at 125 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, is coming off of a decision loss to the white-hot Joshua Van. Prior to that setback, Royval had won two straight fights and five of six, including split nods over former champion Brandon Moreno and then-undefeated prospect Tatsuro Taira. He previously challenged for flyweight gold at UFC 296, where he was outpointed over five rounds by current champion Alexandre Pantoja.
Just behind Royval at No. 6 is Kape, a thrilling striker who has hit his stride in the UFC. The former RIZIN champion is coming off of back-to-back knockouts of Asu Almabayev and Bruno “Bulldog” Silva and has won six of his past seven fights.
UFC Vegas 112 takes place Dec. 12 at UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
