Brandon Royval Announces Withdrawal from UFC Vegas 103 Main Event

UFC Vegas 103 is in need of a new headliner.

Brandon Royval on Wednesday announced via Instagram that an injury has forced him to pull out of a proposed flyweight showdown against Manel Kape on March 1 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Royval did not reveal the exact nature of the injury. It’s currently unclear if Kape will remain on the card against a replacement opponent.

“Unfortunately I’m going to have to pull out of my fight,” Royval wrote. “I’m sorry to Manel Kape and my fans. 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 [next] month 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.”

Royval has won five of his last six Octagon appearances, with his only defeat coming against Alexandre Pantoja in a flyweight title bout at UFC 296. Since that loss, “Raw Dawg” has posted back-to-back triumphs over Brandon Moreno and Tatsuro Taira in headlining contests.

Kape has seen a number of fights fall through during his UFC tenure. The former Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight champion is coming off a third-round TKO triumph against Bruno Silva at UFC on ESPN 63 on Dec. 14. He has won five of his last six outings within the Las Vegas-based promotion.

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