| UFC on ESPN: Royval vs. Kape | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on ESPN: Royval vs. Kape | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | December 13, 2025 (2025-12-13) | |||
| Venue | UFC Apex | |||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada, United States | |||
| Attendance | Not announced[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on ESPN: Royval vs. Kape (also known asUFC on ESPN 73 andUFC Vegas 112) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 13, 2025, at theUFC Apex inEnterprise, Nevada, part of theLas Vegas Valley, United States.[2]
This event was the final UFC broadcast under the U.S. media rights agreement withESPN as beginning in 2026, UFC live event coverage will transition toParamount Skydance.[2]
A flyweight bout between formerUFC Flyweight Championship challenger (also formerLFA Flyweight Champion)Brandon Royval and formerRIZIN Bantamweight ChampionManel Kape headlined the event.[3] The pairing was originally expected to headlineUFC Fight Night: Kape vs. Almabayev in March 2025, but Royval had to withdraw due to multiple concussions.[4] They were later rebooked to compete atUFC 317 in June 2025; however, Kape withdrew due to a broken foot.[5]
A women's flyweight bout between formerLFA Women's Flyweight Champion Jamey-Lyn Horth and Tereza Bledá took place at this event.[6] They were originally scheduled to compete atUFC 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 forUFC on ESPN: Bonfim vs. Brown in November, but was moved to this card for undisclosed reasons.[10]
A women's strawweight bout betweenGillian Robertson andIasmin Lucindo was scheduled for this event.[11] However, Lucindo withdrew due to an undisclosed injury and was replaced by formerUFC Women's Strawweight Championship challengerAmanda Lemos.[12] Subsequently, Lemos was removed from the card by theNevada State Athletic Commission on the day of the event due to a mouth injury and the bout was rescheduled for March 14, 2026, atUFC 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 atUFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Araújo, but Baghdasaryan pulled out of that bout due to a broken hand.[16][17]
| 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 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[19]
