Midnight Mania: Royval Vs. Kape Booked For March

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The UFC Flyweight title picture just gained some much-needed clarity, as a breaking report from AG Fight revealed that contenders Brandon Royval and Manel Kape will square off on March 1 from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the moment, it's unknown if the fight will be the main event, but it's likely given that it's being announced as a title eliminator.

At the moment, Alexandre Pantoja's grip on Flyweight gold is iron. The Brazilian has defeated most of the top contenders, including both Kape and Royval, which is why relative newcomers like Steve Erceg and Kai Asakura were pushed quickly into title shots. There is still a chance that Deiveson Figueiredo — who defeated Pantoja back in 2019 — drops down to 125-pounds again for his own title shot before these two collide, in which case the winners would all likely face off.

Regardless of timing, Royval and Kape have proven themselves elite talents. "Raw Dog" fought Pantoja for the belt in December 2023, but since coming up short, he's picked up an excellent pair of wins over Brandon Morenoo and Tatsuro Taira. Kape, meanwhile, styled on Bruno Silva just last weekend at UFC Tampa, scoring a third-round knockout to reassert himself into the title picture. Dreadfully boring fight with Muhammad Mokaev aside, "Starboy" has won five of his last six fights.

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