UFC Fight Night: Royval vs Kape on December 13 serves as the promotion’s final event of 2025
It’s the last UFC broadcast under the long-running ESPN rights deal before moving to Paramount
Brandon Royval returns for the first time since losing to Joshua Van in June
Manel Kape enters on a two-fight finishing streak
The UFC will wrap up both its 2025 campaign and its long-running broadcast partnership with ESPN on Saturday, December 13, when UFC Fight Night: Royval vs Kape takes place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
The 12-fight bill is anchored by a flyweight showdown that has been postponed twice already this year, giving added significance to a main event that has been nearly twelve months in the making.
Brandon Royval and Manel Kape were initially slated to meet in March and again in June before injuries forced repeated reshuffles. Their clash now serves as the final bout of the UFC’s calendar and the final headliner of the ESPN deal.
Royval vs Kape Finally Happens
In the headliner, Brandon Royval (17-8) returns for the first time since dropping a unanimous decision to Joshua Van at UFC 317 in June. The 33-year-old Denver native won both of his 2024 appearances by split decision and will seek to re-establish momentum in an increasingly competitive flyweight division.
Across the Octagon, Manel Kape (21-7) arrives in strong form. The 32-year-old Portuguese contender is riding a two-fight finishing streak and has taken six of his past seven bouts between the UFC and RIZIN. A win over Royval would strengthen his case for a title eliminator early in 2026.
The ESPN2 main card provides depth across multiple weight classes: a featherweight bout between Giga Chikadze and Kevin Vallejos; a middleweight contest featuring Cesar Almeida vs Cezary Oleksiejczuk; a featherweight meeting between Melquizael Costa and Morgan Charriere; and a heavyweight matchup pitting Kennedy Nzechukwu against Marcus Buchecha.
The preliminary card opens with six bouts. Among the highlights are a women’s strawweight contest between Amanda Lemos and Gillian Robertson, a welterweight pairing of Neil Magny vs Yaroslav Amosov, a featherweight fight between Joanderson Brito and short-notice newcomer Isaac Thomson, and a heavyweight bout between Sean Sharaf and Steven Asplund.
UFC Fight Night: Royval vs Kape – Live Streaming Details
The UFC Fight Night: Royval vs Kape event will be live-streamed in the United States on ESPN+ in English and Spanish. The television broadcast will take place on the ESPN2 channel.
The event, also branded UFC on ESPN 73 and UFC Vegas 112, marks the final broadcast under the existing U.S. media rights deal. Beginning in 2026, UFC programming will shift to Paramount and Skydance platforms, bringing an end to the ESPN era that began in 2019.
