UFC flyweight contender Brandon Royval believes the magnitude of his next fight lends itself to a better environment than the Apex.
2024 was a successful year for the #1-ranked Royval, who entered it off the back of a disappointing performance in his title challenge against Alexandre Pantoja last December.
First, a short-notice opportunity to run it back with Brandon Moreno in Mexico arose, and "Raw Dawg" made the most of it by outpointing the former champion. And eight months later, Royval returned to a win streak by turning away the charge of Japan's Tatsuro Taira.
With that, the 32-year-old is firmly back within the championship conversation at 125 pounds. And to earn another chance at the gold, Royval must now get past Manel Kape.
The pair were recently announced as the headliners for the March 1 UFC Fight Night at the Apex in Las Vegas. Like his win over Taira, the clash is currently slated to take place with a limited crowd at the low-capacity Apex facility in Las Vegas.
But given the likely title stakes — not to mention both men's ability to put on a show inside the Octagon — Royval thinks that should change...
"Kape and I is a dope ass fight," he wrote on X. "We should make this happen in front of an audience."
For "Starboy," the bout offers the chance for him to secure a first title shot on MMA's biggest stage. The former Rizin champ originally called his shot for a rematch versus Pantoja next year after a dominant victory over Bruno Silva in Tampa earlier this month.
But after Dana White was quick to dismiss that as a possibility, Kape now has his next assignment in the calendar, as he looks to wrest Royval's top contender status away in 2025 en route to the flyweight throne.