“Starboy” is ready to prove his worth.
No. 6-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Flyweight contender, Manel Kape, finally collides (knock on wood) with former title challenger. Brandon Royval, in UFC Vegas 112’s main event this weekend (Sat., Dec. 13, 2025) inside UFC’s Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 125-pound division is pure chaos at the moment after Joshua Van took the title from Alexandre Pantoja ay UFC 323 via nasty arm injury last weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada (watch it). Now, everyone’s wondering what happens next.
“Let’s look at it this way: Brandon Royval beat Brandon Moreno. Brandon Royval beat Tatsuro Taira — he beat him, he didn’t just win, he beat him,” Kape told MMAmania.com at UFC Vegas 112 media day (watch here).
”Saturday night, I’ll make Brandon Royval look easy, style on him, stop him. What can they deny me for? They cannot deny me. He beat the top contender fighter, and I just beat the guy that beat you guys. So there are no more questions.
“I’m the man,” Kape concluded. “I’m the fighter with the best style to be a champion. I’m the fighter this division needs.”
Kape makes a strong case, but he’s also leaning heavily on MMA Math, which historically means absolutely nothing in this sport. The bigger issue is that Kape has had rotten luck during his UFC run and hasn’t been nearly active enough.
Still, UFC is clearly high on “Starboy” and has repeatedly tried to set him up for a run at the belt. And you can bet the promotion will be watching this main event very closely.
Things may finally start to untangle at UFC Vegas 112 … which is just three days away.
