UFC Vegas 103 Fight Card: Kape Vs. Almabayev

The UFC is back at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas for the promotion’s next fight card, UFC Vegas 103, which takes place on Saturday, March 1. In the main event of the UFC Fight night card, Manel Kape faces Asu Almabayev in a flyweight scrap. In the evening’s middleweight co-main event, Cody Brundage faces Julian Marquez. We look at the pertinent information for the UFC Vegas 103 fight card.

UFC Vegas 103 Fight Card

UFC Vegas 103 Main Card

Manel Kape vs. Asu Almabayev
Cody Brundage vs. Julian Marquez
Nasrat Haqparast vs. Esteban Ribovics
Hyder Amil vs. William Gomis
Danny Barlow vs. Sam Patterson

UFC Vegas 103 Prelims Card

Austen Lane vs. Mário Pinto
Ricardo Ramos vs. Chepe Mariscal
Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. John Castañeda
Danny Silva vs. Lucas Almeida
Andrea Lee vs. JJ Aldrich
Charles Johnson vs. Ramazan Temirov
Montana De La Rosa vs. Luana Carolina

UFC Vegas 103 Fight Card

Manel Kape (20-7 with 12 knockouts and five submissions) is the No. 6 fighter in the official UFC flyweight rankings. The UFC initially booked Kape against former UFC flyweight title challenger Brandon Royval in the headlining spot of this event, but Royval dropped out in early February because of injury.

Kape, a former Rizin bantamweight champion, joined the UFC in early 2021 following a win over Kai Asakura. He opened his UFC career with back-to-back losses. Since then, Kape has found his groove. He is on a 5-1 run with the promotion. His only loss during that time was a July 2024 setback to the undefeated Muhammad Mokaev. Kape is coming off a December 2024 TKO win over Bruno Silva.

Asu Almabayev (21-2 with three knockouts and nine submissions) first fought under the UFC banner in August 2023. He is currently the No. 8 fighter in the UFC’s 125-pound division.

Almabayev made a swift ascent in the UFC rankings. With four fights for the UFC, all wins, he has already broken into the top 10 of the flyweight weight class.

Almabayev is coming off an October 2024 decision win over Matheus Nicolau. Nicolau was on a two-fight losing skid at the time. He was released from the promotion following his loss to Almabayev.

The UFC had initially scheduled Almabayev vs. Steve Erceg on this card, but Erceg was moved to the UFC Mexico event. With Royval’s injury, the promotion slotted Almabayev into the main event.

UFC Vegas 103 Fight Card Date

Saturday, March 1, 2025

UFC Vegas 103 Fight Card Location

UFC Apex in Las Vegas, NV

UFC Vegas 103 Fight Card How to Watch Or Stream

Full fight card streams on ESPN+

UFC Vegas 103 Fight Card Time

Prelims: 4:00 p.m. ET

Main Card: 7:00 p.m. ET

Manel Kape on UFC Vegas 103 Fight Card

“Brandon pulled out. Winning against Brandon Royval, I would’ve been the No. 1 in the ranking. It’s not my fault. I’m here doing my job,” Kape said during fight week (via MMA Junkie)

“And again, Deiveson Figueiredo pulled out, Alex Perez pulled out, Kai Kara-France pulled out, all these fighters been pulling out. I’ve been doing my work. So after Asu, 100 percent I’m getting my title shot.”

“I was supposed to fight Brandon Royval, he’s a taller guy,” Kape added. “I was expecting to work him a lot on the body, the body shots, so I don’t have to reach too much his head. Asu is more short guy, so his head is going to be there and is a target. His chin is going to be there. His nose is going to be there, so I believe there’s going to be bad blood. His face is going to be a bunch of blood on Saturday night. He’s short, and he’s a good target for myself.”

Asu Almabayev On UFC Vegas 103 Fight Card

“(This is a) Great opportunity for me. I feel great about this. Obviously I was going to be on the card, and now the card’s changed and I got all the way to the top,” Almabayev told the UFC. “This is a huge opportunity for myself. This is something for me to show myself, to be able to show a great fight and then eventually get into the title race.

“The biggest thing right now is to come out, show out, win and then everything else will fall into place. I feel great. I feel really lucky.”

“They (the UFC) were talking about that fight (Kape vs. Royval) being a title eliminator, so that means that if I win that I’m automatically in title contention. I am excited.”

We will have more on the UFC Vegas 103 fight card as fight night nears.