Brandon Royval Vs. Manel Kape Breakdown

Flyweight Brandon Royval takes on Manel Kape in the main event at UFC APEX this weekend in their final UFC bout of 2025, as we preview his upcoming fight.

Royval arrives into the fight on a loss, having come up short against Joshua Van at UFC 317 in June. The defeat ended his two-fight win streak, having beaten Brandon Moreno and Tatsuro Taira, respectively. Royval has the impressive feat of the most Fight of the Night bonuses with five, as he will look to follow up with another win. As for Kape, he has won his last two bouts. Wins over Bruno Silva and Asu Almabayev mean he is now ranked sixth. This is his second UFC main event, and he will look to secure arguably the biggest win of his resume.

The Approach

Royval’s main tactical objectives will be to overwhelm Kape with volume and force grappling exchanges. He cannot afford to stand at mid-range and allow Kape to line up his powerful counters. Royval is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt who has struggled to implement his wrestling consistently, but his best path to victory is on the ground. He will look to chain his striking into clinch entries and takedowns. His goal is to create a scenario where his superior cardio can shine.

Kape’s tactical approach will be one of patience, power, and counters. Kape has shown maturity in his recent fights, relying on superior defense (57% strike defense) and accuracy (55% strike accuracy) to capitalize on opponent mistakes. Kape will likely give up the center early to let Royval burn energy but will counter any misplaced attacks.

Kape’s takedown defense is a solid 81%. His tactical key will be to successfully stuff the takedowns and immediately make Royval pay for the effort. Kape wants to discourage Royval from attempting future grappling, turning the fight into a pure stand-up affair where he holds the advantage in terms of power and defense.