UFC Vegas 103 has a new main event. Yesterday, top flyweight contender and former title challenger Brandon "Raw Dawg" Royval (17-7) took to Instagram to announce that he was out of his upcoming main event against top contender Manel Kape (20-7). The fight was being looked at as a title eliminator. Royval seemed devastated by the news and it appears to be a serious injury.
Unfortunately I'm going to have to pull out of my fight, I'm sorry to Manel Kape and my fans. I'm facing an injury that has me questioning when I'll be able to train again. This is absolutely a fight I think needs to happen for the flyweight division but as of right now competing has been ill advised. Love y'all and I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I'll have more details on my YouTube this week.
With Royval off the card, the UFC was forced to pivot and fortunately for them, there was another top flyweight that was on the card. Sportilinet was the first to report earlier today that Asu Almabayev (21-2) will be moving to the main event where he'll take on Manel Kape.
This is a massive opportunity for Almabayev. Almabayev made his octagon debut back in 2023 after going 17-2 on the regional scene. He's a perfect 4-0 inside the octagon and his last win came against Matheus Nicolau back in October. Worth noting that Nicolau holds a win over Manel Kape.
Since starting his professional career 4-2, Almabayev has won 17 fights in a row and he's ranked 8th in the UFC's flyweight division. Given the lack of fresh challengers for Alexandre Pantoja, Almabayev could earn a title shot with a win over Manel Kape.