With Brandon Royval out of UFC Vegas 103 due to injury, Manel Kape has a new opponent.

The flyweight contender is expected to face rising star Asu Almabayev (21-2) on the upcoming UFC Fight Night card scheduled for March 1 at UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Thursday following an initial report from Sportilinet. The fight is still expected to serve as the main event for the card.

Kape stands at No. 10 at 125 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, with Almabayev four spots behind at No. 14.

It’s been a rollercoaster ride for Almabayev to finally get the matchup against Kape in March after being shifted around from various events and opponents over the past few weeks. He was originally expected to clash with one-time title challenger Steve Erceg, but was then moved to a matchup against former champion Brandon Moreno at the UFC’s upcoming return to Mexico City in March.

Almabayev then got matched up against Allan Nascimento, but the injury to Royval left an opening for Kape on the same card. Now the 31-year-old fighter from Kazakhstan gets a huge opportunity to jump into the headline spot against a dangerous opponent in Kape.

Since joining the UFC roster, Almabayev has gone 4-0 including wins over Ode Osbourne and Matheus Nicolau along the way. He faces his stiffest test to date against Kape, who has gone 5-1 in his past six fights including a blistering performance to finish Bruno Silva in his most recent outing this past December.

Kape (20-7) has been gunning for a title fight opportunity and now Almabayev stands in his way with the flyweights expected to headline the UFC card on March 1.

Mike Heck contributed to this report.