‘Raw Dawg’ was forced to make a difficult decision in his career following some health concerns.
Brandon Royval was preparing for another upcoming main event spotlight in just a few weeks time before he withdrew from the fight.
The former title challenger and #1-contender at flyweight was set to face Manel Kape over five rounds at the UFC Apex on March 1.
With Royval beating Brandon Moreno and Tatsuro Taira to bounce back from his loss to Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 296 and Kape putting on a show in his last outing, the fight would have likely been a title eliminator.
The 32-year-old has since explained why he made the call to pull out of the matchup with Asu Almabayev stepping into his place to take on ‘Starboy’ at UFC Vegas 103.
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Brandon Royval reveals multiple concussions forced him to reconsider Manel Kape fight
Brandon Roval spoke in a recent video on his YouTube channel about why he pulled out of the fight on March 1.
The top contender revealed that he had suffered a concussion several months ago but after nursing himself back to health, he decided to take the fight until a second concussion changed things.
Considering the stakes hanging over this fight, without any guarantee of when he will be fully recovered, Royval had to make a big call as to whether he should go through with it or not.
He decided that the best thing to do in these circumstances would be to wait rather than going out there to face another top contender knowing that he’s already compromised.
“Nothing too crazy. I was just playing it safe, playing it smart. A couple weeks later, when I was recovered, I accepted this fight, which was awesome. Fight Manel Kape. I respect his skills, I respect him as a striker and all that. I was training hard for this fight, and being a little reckless and being kind of in the zone for camp, I got another concussion. This one was severely worse.
“It’s been over a week at this point, and I’m still dealing with the repercussions of it and the symptoms of a bad concussion. And because of that reason and because of the reasoning of adding a weight cut, Manel Kape being a good striker, and this being a predominantly striking match that we felt this would be the safest move. Take some time, recover, recover the right way this time, and fight at a later date. Fight when I can fully train, fully take a punch, and give you guys the best of my ability.”
Brandon Royval is still right in the mix
Pulling out of this fight with Manel Kape might mean that Brandon Royval has to wait a bit longer for another title shot but he’s still at the top of the division.
His two previous fights and losses to the current champion is the only thing holding him back right now with ‘Raw Dawg’ securing two big wins over top contenders in 2024.
A fight with Kape would’ve made him undeniable but considering that he’s the #1-contender, there will be more big opportunities for significant matchups once he is healthy again.
This is undoubtedly the right call for Royval to make in this moment considering the work that he put in last year to recement himself as one of the best 125-pounders on the planet.