It appears as though standout flyweight prospect Joshua Van will be getting a quick turnaround following his thrilling UFC 316 victory over the weekend.
No. 1-ranked flyweight contender Brandon Royval, who had been scheduled to face Manel Kape at UFC 317 later this month, confirmed on social media Monday that Kape has withdrawn from their matchup and Van has agreed to be his new opponent on the June 28 card in Las Vegas.
The UFC has not yet made an official announcement, however, Kape confirmed Monday that he suffered a fractured foot for which he will undergo surgery.
This is now the second time this year a scheduled fight between Royval and Kape has fallen apart. The 32-year-old Royval, fighting out of Colorado, withdrew from a Fight Night main event in early March as he recovered from injuries. Kape went on to defeat short-notice replacement opponent Asu Almabayev with a third-round technical knockout.
Royval vs. Kape was tentatively slated to be the featured preliminary matchup at UFC 317. It is unclear if a Royval vs. Van bout will remain on the prelims or potentially be bumped up to the main card.
UFC 317 from the T-Mobile Arena is headlined by Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira in a vacant lightweight title matchup with a co-main event featuring reigning flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja looking for his fourth consecutive title defence when he faces Kai Kara-France.
Royval is coming off back-to-back five-round decision wins over former champ Brandon Moreno and rising contender Tatsuro Taira. Royval has two previous losses to Pantoja, including in a title fight at UFC 296, which is why he keeps being booked in non-title fights despite his No. 1 contender ranking.
Van entered UFC 316 as 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 quickly become one of the more popular and active young fighters on the UFC roster by overwhelming his opponents with accurate boxing combinations and unrelenting offence.
Van is already 7-1 in the UFC after debuting in June 2023. His lone setback was a knockout loss to Charles Johnson 11 months ago, but Van has since racked up four consecutive wins — three straight three-round decisions over Edgar Charez, Cody Durden and Rei Tsuruya plus his stoppage of Silva.
Stylistically speaking, Royval vs. Van is one of the most fan-friendly matchups the UFC could put together in the 125-pound division — in any division, for that matter.
After only eight Octagon appearances, Van is already tied with Pantoja for the third-most significant strikes landed in UFC flyweight history. His and the current champion’s 893 significant strikes landed are behind only flyweight legend Demetrious Johnson’s 1,059 and Moreno’s record 1,220.
Van’s 8.2 strikes landed per minute ranks first among all active UFC fighters regardless of weight class.
Royval described Van as “the sickest prospect in the UFC in my opinion” in a post on X.
