Brandon Royval says he's the backup for Van vs. Kape title fight at UFC 336

Brandon Royval said on Wednesday that he is the backup for Joshua Van's flyweight title defense against Manel Kape. The fight headlines UFC 336 on Jan. 30 in Toronto. He said it on The Ariel Helwani Show, as reported by Sherdog and MMA Junkie. The UFC has not confirmed it, and every report we could read traces it back to Royval himself.

"I'm the backup," he told Helwani, according to Sherdog. He added that the role "keeps me in the title picture for a little bit," SI reported.

He said he is getting in shape now and will start losing weight after this week. According to MMA Junkie, he said he will weigh in as the backup, and Heavy put that weigh-in on Jan. 29. Neither outlet cited the UFC.

"The backup spot is for sure something I want because there are chances that people pull out of fights," Royval said, per Sherdog. He also said it "gets me studying the champion and it gets me studying the contender for the championship," according to MMA Junkie.

Why Royval

He has already fought both men. Van beat him by decision at UFC 317 on June 28, 2025, according to our fighter page. Kape knocked him out in the first round on Dec. 13, 2025. That leaves him stuck behind the two men in the title fight.

"I'm in a weird situation where it's like, the people in front of me beat me."

He told Helwani, per Sherdog, that he is waiting "for a few fights to shape out before I can even have an opponent." The 34-year-old from Denver is 18-9 and ranked No. 3 at flyweight, behind Alexandre Pantoja and Kape, in the UFC's official rankings. His last fight was a third-round rear-naked choke of Lone'er Kavanagh at UFC 329 on July 11.

Royval has been on the other end of a swap before. Kape was supposed to fight him at UFC 317 but pulled out with a foot fracture, theScore reported at the time. Van took the fight two days after beating Bruno Silva, beat Royval three weeks later and won the belt at UFC 323 that December.

He closed as the underdog in both fights, +101 against Van and +210 against Kape, according to our page on Royval. Kape closed at −275 (his page). Across 12 UFC fights with closing odds on record, Royval has won seven, against the 4.8 the closing prices implied.

We think the UFC would struggle to find a better stand-in. He is ranked third, coming off a win, and either champion or challenger would be facing a man they have already beaten.

The title fight

The UFC announced Van vs. Kape during its UFC 333 broadcast, MMA Junkie reported. Van, 25, is 18-2. He won the belt when Pantoja hurt his arm 26 seconds in. He then stopped Tatsuro Taira in the fifth round in May and outpointed Pantoja in September. Kape would be his third defense.

Kape, 23-7, has won four straight by knockout, including Royval and Kyoji Horiguchi. He stopped Horiguchi in the third round on June 20 to avenge an earlier loss. The co-main event is Carlos Prates vs. Michael Morales for the interim welterweight title.

The market has Van as a slight favourite: −130 to Kape's +105 currently on our fight page. That gives Van about a 54% chance, up slightly from 52% on Oct. 26.

Royval's pick depends on how long it lasts. "If it ends early, I think Kape will knock him out," he said, per Sherdog. "If it doesn't, I think Van is just so hard to pick against that he can get it done."

The UFC has not announced a backup or the rest of the UFC 336 card. SI expects more fights to be added in the coming weeks.