Manel
Kape won’t be fighting Brandon
Royval as expected at UFC
317, but the consolation prize isn’t too bad.
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Kape revealed on Monday that a fractured foot that
will require surgery has forced him out of the June 28 flyweight
bout against Royval. As a result, Joshua Van
will step in against the former 125-pound title challenger. Both
Royval and Van announced the new booking on social media, but the
bout has not been officially confirmed by the promotion.
“Manel Kape is out, Joshua Van is stepping in,” Royval said on
Instagram. “I have zero idea of the extent of Manel Kape’s injuries
but I do know I have the hottest prospect and probably the most
exciting UFC flyweight in front of me. Really nothing changes for
me as far as what’s in front of me. I’ve got a gangster that’s
ready to take my head off and earn his name off of me.”
Van, 23, has won seven of his first eight Octagon appearances. The
Myanmar native is coming off a third-round TKO defeat of Bruno Silva
at UFC 3166
this past Saturday. His lone promotional defeat came against
Charles
Johnson at UFC on ESPN 59 in July 2024. Van has been victorious
in four consecutive outings since then.
I’ll be fighting Royval June 28!!!
— Joshua
Van (@JoshuaVanBT)
June 9, 2025
Royval challenged for flyweight gold at UFC 296, where he dropped a
five-round verdict to reigning champion Alexandre
Pantoja in December 2023. Since then, the Factory X product has
rebounded to earn back-to-back triumphs against Brandon
Moreno and Tatsuro
Taira.
UFC 317 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is
headlined by a lightweight championship tilt pitting Ilia
Topuria against Charles
Oliveira. In the co-main event, Pantoja will put his flyweight
title on the lline against Kai
Kara-France.