This past Saturday in the main event of UFC Vegas 112, we saw a big time matchup in the flyweight division. Former title challenger Brandon Royval (17-9) was taking on former RIZIN champion Manel Kape (22-7) with a potential flyweight title shot on the line.
Just a week before this matchup, Joshua Van became the flyweight champion after Alexandre Pantoja suffered an arm injury just over 20 seconds into their title fight at UFC 323. That same night, Tatsuro Taira became the first man to stop Brandon Moreno when he won their fight by second round TKO.
When that night ended, it felt like Taira was in the driver’s seat for the next title shot against Joshua Van unless Pantoja could return in the first half of 2026. That said, the only thing that could get in Taira’s way is a massive win from one of the two guys fighting in this past Saturday’s main event.
Well, unfortunately for Taira we did see a massive win. Manel Kape ran through Brandon Royval and stopped him in the first round. After the fight was over, Kape went right to the microphone and made a bizarre yet definitive callout of the champ, Joshua Van.
What’s next after UFC Vegas 112?
I feel bad for Taira, but he’s not getting the next title shot. If Joshua Van defends his title against someone not named Alexandre Pantoja next, the shot has to come against Manel Kape. In my opinion, there’s no argument for Taira over Kape unless the UFC plans a trip to Japan and they feel obligated to have Taira fight for the title.
Taira just lost to Brandon Royval last year. Royval has since lost to the champion Joshua Van and now he’s been knocked out by Manel Kape. The rankings back the logic up with Kape now being ranked second in the division only behind Pantoja.
If Pantoja is able to return in the first half of 2026, he should get an immediate rematch with Van. In that scenario, I would put Kape and Taira against each other potentially in Japan with the winners of both fights squaring off later in 2026 for the UFC flyweight title.
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