UFC on ESPN: Royval vs. Kape
Mixed martial arts event in 2025
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UFC on ESPN: Royval vs. Kape (also known as UFC on ESPN 73 and UFC Vegas 112) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 13, 2025, at the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Valley, United States.[2]
| UFC on ESPN: Royval vs. Kape | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
The poster for UFC on ESPN: Royval vs. Kape | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | December 13, 2025 | |||
| Venue | UFC Apex | |||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada, United States | |||
| Attendance | Not announced[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
This event was the final UFC broadcast under the U.S. media rights agreement with ESPN as beginning in 2026, UFC live event coverage will transition to Paramount Skydance.[2]
A flyweight bout between former UFC Flyweight Championship challenger (also former LFA Flyweight Champion) Brandon Royval and former RIZIN Bantamweight Champion Manel Kape headlined the event.[3] The pairing was originally expected to headline UFC Fight Night: Kape vs. Almabayev in March 2025, but Royval had to withdraw due to multiple concussions.[4] They were later rebooked to compete at UFC 317 in June 2025; however, Kape withdrew due to a broken foot.[5]
A women's flyweight bout between former LFA Women's Flyweight Champion Jamey-Lyn Horth and Tereza Bledá took place at this event.[6] They were originally scheduled to compete at UFC on ESPN: Usman vs. Buckley in June but Bledá was forced to withdraw from the fight due to a staph infection.[7][8]
A women's bantamweight bout between Luana Santos and Melissa Croden took place at this event.[9] The pairing was originally set for UFC on ESPN: Bonfim vs. Brown in November, but was moved to this card for undisclosed reasons.[10]
A women's strawweight bout between Gillian Robertson and Iasmin Lucindo was scheduled for this event.[11] However, Lucindo withdrew due to an undisclosed injury and was replaced by former UFC Women's Strawweight Championship challenger Amanda Lemos.[12] Subsequently, Lemos was removed from the card by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on the day of the event due to a mouth injury and the bout was rescheduled for March 14, 2026, at UFC Fight Night 269.[13]
Melsik Baghdasaryan was expected to face Joanderson Brito in a featherweight bout.[14] However, Baghdasaryan pulled out for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by promotional newcomer Isaac Thomson.[15] Baghdasaryan and Brito had previously been scheduled to meet in October 2022 at UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Araújo, but Baghdasaryan pulled out of that bout due to a broken hand.[16][17]
Results
| Main card (ESPN2 / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Flyweight | Manel Kape | def. | Brandon Royval | KO (punches) | 1 | 3:18 | |
| Featherweight | Kevin Vallejos | def. | Giga Chikadze | KO (spinning backfist and elbows) | 2 | 1:29 | |
| Middleweight | Cezary Oleksiejczuk | def. | César Almeida | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Melquizael Costa | def. | Morgan Charrière | KO (head kick) | 1 | 1:14 | |
| Heavyweight | Kennedy Nzechukwu | vs. | Marcus Buchecha | Draw (unanimous) (28–28, 28–28, 28–28) | 3 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Catchweight (160 lb) | King Green | def. | Lance Gibson Jr. | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN2 / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Welterweight | Yaroslav Amosov | def. | Neil Magny | Submission (anaconda choke) | 1 | 3:14 | |
| Featherweight | Joanderson Brito | def. | Isaac Thomson | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Steven Asplund | def. | Sean Sharaf | TKO (punches) | 2 | 3:49 | |
| Women's Bantamweight | Luana Santos | def. | Melissa Croden | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Guilherme Pat | def. | Allen Frye | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Jamey-Lyn Horth | def. | Tereza Bledá | TKO (punches) | 1 | 2:05 | |
- Nzechukwu was deducted one point in round 2 due to an eye poke.
Bonus awards
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[19]
- Fight of the Night: Steven Asplund vs. Sean Sharaf
- Performance of the Night: Manel Kape and Kevin Vallejos
