Brandon Royval pulls out of UFC Vegas 103 headliner due to unknown injury: “I’m sorry to Manel Kape and my fans”

By Josh Evanoff - February 5, 2025

UFC flyweight contender Brandon Royval has pulled out of his March return against Manel Kape.

Brandon Royval

‘Raw Dawg’ hasn’t been seen in the cage since an October clash with Tatsuro Taira. The Japanese contender entered the cage a staggering 16-0, while Brandon Royval was fresh off a win over former champion Brandon Moreno in February. In the main event of UFC Vegas 98, the former title challenger earned a split-decision win.

While Brandon Royval hoped to earn a title shot with a win, it appears that the next title shot will instead go to Kai Kara-France. While ‘Raw Dawg’ debated a move to bantamweight, he instead signed a deal to face Manel Kape. ‘Starboy’ is also on the hunt for gold, last scoring a December knockout win over Bruno da Silva.

The two flyweights were slated to headline UFC Vegas 103 in early March. Sadly, the fight will no longer be happening. Taking to Instagram earlier today, Brandon Royval revealed an injury that has forced him out of the bout. While ‘Raw Dawg’ didn’t specify what the injury was, it’s enough to put the 32-year-old contender out of action for a while.

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Brandon Royval pulls out of UFC Vegas 103 return against Manel Kape due to injury

Unfortunately I’m going to have to pull out of my fight, I’m sorry to Manel Kape and my fans.” Brandon Royval wrote on Instagram earlier this week. “I’m facing an injury that has me questioning when I’ll be able to train again. This is absolutely a fight I think needs to happen for the flyweight division but as of right now competing has been ill advised. Love y’all and I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I’ll have more details on my YouTube this week.”

As of now, Manel Kape hasn’t responded to news of Brandon Royval’s injury. Furthermore, it’s unknown if any flyweight will step up to face ‘Starboy’ in March. Nonetheless, the UFC Vegas 103 card is still being built out. Here’s how it stands as of now:

Flyweight Bout (Main Event): Manel Kape vs. TBD

Middleweight Bout: Cody Brundage vs. Julian Marquez

Lightweight Bout: Nasrat Haqparast vs. Esteban Ribovics

Heavyweight Bout: Austen Lane vs. Mário Pinto

Featherweight Bout: Hyder Amil vs. William Gomis

Featherweight Ricardo Ramos vs. Chepe Mariscal

Bantamweight Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. John Castañeda

Women’s Flyweight Andrea Lee vs. JJ Aldrich

Welterweight Danny Barlow vs. Sam Patterson

Women’s Flyweight Montana De La Rosa vs. Luana Carolina

Featherweight Danny Silva vs. Lucas Almeida

Flyweight Charles Johnson vs. Ramazan Temirov

What do you make of this news involving UFC flyweight Brandon Royval? Do you want to see this fight re-booked, or Manel Kape face a new opponent?

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


Topics:

Brandon Royval Manel Kape UFC