Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape to headline UFC's 2025 finale

Tuesday - 02/09/2025 15:04
Former flyweight title challenger Brandon Royval and Manel Kape, winner of six of his last seven fights, will headline the promotion's final event of 2025 on Dec. 13 in Las Vegas.
  • Brett OkamotoSep 2, 2025, 09:41 PM
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      Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: "Chuck and Tito," which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.
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A non-title flyweight matchup between Brandon Royval and Manel Kape will headline the UFC's final event of 2025 on Dec. 13 in Las Vegas.

Both fighters confirmed the five-round contest on social media. The UFC Fight Night will take place at the Apex.

The UFC ranks Royval and Kape as the Nos. 3 and 7 flyweights in the division, respectively. It's the third time this year the UFC has booked this matchup. The two were supposed to meet on March 1, but Royval (17-8) withdrew due to injury. They were rebooked at UFC 317 in June, only to have Kape (21-7) pull out with an injury of his own.

Royval, who trains out of Denver, accepted a last-minute replacement at UFC 317 in 23-year-old Joshua Van. Royval lost a back-and-forth decision, in a bout that earned Fight of the Night honors and propelled Van to a future title shot. Prior to that setback, Royval had posted back-to-back split decision wins against top tier talent in Brandon Moreno and Tatsuro Taira.

Kape has won six of his last seven appearances, including a knockout of Asu Almabayev in March.

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