Manel Kape Out of UFC 317; Joshua Van Expected to Face Brandon Royval

Manel Kape won’t be fighting Brandon Royval as expected at UFC 317, but the consolation prize isn’t too bad.

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.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Brandon Royval (@broyval)