Manel Kape vs. Brandon Royval booked for UFC 317
There's movement at the top of the UFC flyweight division.
Title contenders Manel Kape and Brandon Royval have been booked to meet at UFC 317 on June 28 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. MMA Junkie confirmed the news with two sources following a first report by Laerte Viana.
This isn't the first time Kape (21-7 MMA, 7-3 UFC) and Royval (17-7 MMA, 7-3 UFC) have signed a contract to fight each other. The two were initially set to meet at UFC Fight Night 253 on March 1, but Royval withdrew from the matchup due to a couple of concussions he suffered in training.
Kape stayed on the card, and ended up fighting and stopping replacement Asu Almabayev in the main event. Kape is on a two-fight winning streak since his odd defeat to Muhammad Mokaev. He's 6-1 in his past seven UFC outings.
Royval hasn't competed since October, when he defeated top prospect Tatsuro Taira in an exciting and competitive split decision. Prior to that, 'Raw Dog' had picked up arguably the biggest win of his career, outpointing former champion Brandon Moreno in Mexico.
At the time of writing, there at no other fights currently confirmed for UFC 317.
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