Brandon Royval says Joshua Van changing Manel Kape on UFC 317 card

It seems as regardless that standout flyweight prospect Joshua Van shall be getting a snappy turnaround following his exciting UFC 316 victory over the weekend.

No. 1-ranked flyweight contender Brandon Royval, who have been scheduled to stand Manel Kape at UFC 317 later this month, showed on social media Monday that Kape has withdrawn from their matchup and Van has agreed to be his new opponent at the June 28 card in Las Vegas.

The UFC has now not but made an legitimate announcement, on the other hand, Kape showed Monday that he suffered a fractured foot for which he’s going to go through surgical operation.

This is now the second one time this yr a scheduled struggle between Royval and Kape has fallen aside. The 32-year-old Royval, preventing out of Colorado, withdrew from a Fight Night leading tournament in early March as he recovered from accidents. Kape went directly to defeat short-notice substitute opponent Asu Almabayev with a third-round technical knockout.

Royval vs. Kape used to be tentatively slated to be the featured initial matchup at UFC 317. It is unclear if a Royval vs. Van bout will stay at the prelims or doubtlessly be bumped as much as the primary card.

UFC 317 from the T-Mobile Arena is headlined by way of Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira in a vacant light-weight identify matchup with a co-main tournament that includes reigning flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja in search of his fourth consecutive identify defence when he faces Kai Kara-France. 

Royval is coming off back-to-back five-round resolution wins over former champ Brandon Moreno and emerging contender Tatsuro Taira. Royval has two earlier losses to Pantoja, together with in a identify struggle at UFC 296, which is why he helps to keep being booked in non-title fights in spite of his No. 1 contender score.

Van entered UFC 316 because the No. 14-ranked flyweight contender and earned a third-round technical knockout win over the No. 12-ranked Bruno Silva.

The 23-year-old from Myanmar has briefly develop into probably the most extra well-liked and energetic younger warring parties at the UFC roster by way of overwhelming his fighters with correct boxing mixtures and unrelenting offence.

Van is already 7-1 within the UFC after debuting in June 2023. His lone setback used to be a knockout loss to Charles Johnson 11 months in the past, however Van has since racked up 4 consecutive wins — 3 directly three-round choices over Edgar Charez, Cody Durden and Rei Tsuruya plus his stoppage of Silva.

Stylistically talking, Royval vs. Van is without doubt one of the maximum fan-friendly matchups the UFC may put in combination within the 125-pound department — in any department, for that subject.

After most effective 8 Octagon appearances, Van is already tied with Pantoja for the third-most vital moves landed in UFC flyweight historical past. His and the present champion’s 893 vital moves landed are at the back of most effective flyweight legend Demetrious Johnson’s 1,059 and Moreno’s document 1,220.

Van’s 8.2 moves landed consistent with minute ranks first amongst all energetic UFC warring parties irrespective of weight magnificence. 

Royval described Van as “the sickest prospect in the UFC in my opinion” in a put up on X.