UFC Vegas 112 was the final UFC card of the 2025 calendar year. Additionally, the APEX card also marked the end of the UFC era on ESPN.
The main event featured top ranked flyweight, Manel Kape, dropping and finishing Brandon Royval in the first round. In the co-main event, Kevin Vallejos logged a standout performance and finish against longtime ranked featherweight, Giga Chikadze. A six-fight main card as well as one fight that ended in a draw means the edition will be heavily loaded with a total of seven fighters.
Brandon Royval
Manel Kape took a little over half a round to trap Royval against the cage, drop him with a hook and finish the job. This was a matchup that had been made twice before this year, with both fighters causing a cancellation a piece, injuries being the culprits for both men. Royval entered the fight ranked at #2 in the division while Kape was at #8. This is Royval’s second loss in a row after losing to now 125lb champion Joshua Van, via a Fight of the Night, unanimous decision back in June. Brandon is 2-2 since an unsuccessful title shot to the former champion, Alexandre Pantoja, in December of 2023.
The perfect bout for Royval at this point, is to take on Tim Elliot. Tim has a whacky striking style, much like Brandon does. Elliot is currently ranked at #8 in the division and is coming off of a second-round guillotine finish against Kai Asakura back in August. That was the last time fans had seen the now 38-year-old Tim Elliot, in the octagon in nearly two years. Elliot is 10-11 in the UFC and the would be a fight that could keep Royval active while a lot of the other ranked fighters have matchups. This could be fight night card headliner or co main event.
Royval’s next fight: Tim Elliot
Giga Chikadze
Kevin Vallejos had his highlight moment on Saturday with his spinning back fight finish of Giga Chikadze. The spectacular display of Argentine striking triggered the third set back in a row for Chikadze. And Giga has now lost four of his last five dating back to 2021. His only win in that time is to Alex Caceres, who is no longer with the promotion. Giga lost to Calvin Kattar, Arnold Allen, David Onama (which he missed weight for) and now Kevin Vallejos. Giga entered this fight just hanging on to his spot in the rankings at #15. Obviously, that’s gone now as Kevin was unranked.
At 37 years old and with the injuries suffered in his career, it’s important for Giga to get the right matchup here. Who better than a guy like Sean Woodson? This is a matchup that was referenced in a previous loser’s article and though it’s dangerous, it has an upside for both fighters. Woodson is 7-2-1 in the UFC and recently had a 7-fight unbeaten streak snapped by Dan Ige back in April. To make matters worse for Woodson, he was stopped and shut out of the rankings. 33-year-old Woodson is 6’2″ with a 78″ reach while Giga is 6’0″ with a 74″ reach. Seans a more of a boxing striker while Giga is more kickboxing. This could offer an excellent just outside of the rankings matchup to determine which fighter lands a shot at a ranked fighter.
Chikadze’s next fight: Sean Woodson
Cesar Almedia
Cezary Oleksiejzuk tallied a victory in his UFC debut on Saturday, with a unanimous decision victory over Cesar Almedia. It was a grinding a grimy fight as Alemedia now falls to 3-2 with the promotion. His three wins against Dylan Budka, Ihor Potieria and Abdul Razak Alhassan are all against fighters who have since been cut by the promotion. Almedia is in dire need of a win here.
The perfect matchup here for Cesar is pairing him up against Marco Tulio. Marco fought last month, getting finished via spinning backfist at the hands of Christian Leroy Duncan. That losers article referenced Tulio taking on Michel Pereira, but Pereira was instead booked against Zach Reese. Cesar would offer an excellent matchup, and the timing would work perfectly. Tulio is 2-1 with the UFC and shares a win over Ihor Potieria. Marco’s other win came back in April when he stopped Tresean Gore. Cesar went to a split decision against Roman Kopylov. But its dicey because he’s only 7-2 as a pro in MMA, not even 10 fights yet. Tulio is 14-2 and has stopped nearly everyone, it’s a dangerous matchup.
That said, Cesar was also a credentialed Glory kickboxer that faced Alex Pereira multiple times (1-2, all decisions). Book it! Sleeper of a solid fight for hardcore fans that could be a feature PPV prelim.
Almeida’s next fight: Marco Tulio
Morgan Charriere
Melquizael Costa just barely landed a picture-perfect head kick on Morgan Charriere 74 seconds into the pair’s bout on Saturday. The highlight reel KO marked the first time that Charriere has been stopped in his 34-fight professional MMA career. Charriere is now 3-3 with the UFC but he has scored bonuses in four of his six appearances.
A great matchup for Charriere would be pitting him against Christian Rodriguez. Christian is 5-4 with the promotion and is actually on a two-fight skid. Rodriguez has also lost to Costa, via unanimous decision back in March. The 2021 Contender Series alum, nicknamed “CeeRod”, was last in action in August with a split decision loss to UFC vet, Andre Filli. Rodriguez made a splash when he first arrived in the UFC, with victories over hot young prospects, Raul Rosas Jr and Cameron Saaiman. However, he continuously lost the fight to the scale and has since moved up to featherweight- where he’s struggled. Exciting scrap in the making here, could land nearly anywhere on a fight night card.
Charriere’s next fight: Christian Rodriguez
Lance Gibson Jr.
39-year-old King Green pieced up and secured a split decision victory over Lance Gibson Jr to kick of the main card of UFC Vegas 112 on Saturday. Gibson Jr. definitely had his moments in his short notice UFC debut, but the split decision was somewhat controversial as many fans thought the fight should have been scored as a unanimous decision (as well as King Green).
Lance, a former Bellator fighter, at 30 years old and 9-2, has a couple of directions he can go here. Jump in the deep end, so to speak, against more veteran fighters or test his metal against hungry Contender Series -type fighters. Perhaps a Contender Series alum is a more entertaining and manageable path like a fight against Terrance McKinney or Thiago Moises. Two CS guys, but tenure in the promotion too. Terrance is 2019 alum who has gone 7-5 with the promotion. While Moises is from the 2018 season and has gone 8-7.
Leaning towards McKinney, who has gone 2-2 in his last four. McKinney is known for his fights, win or lose, not making it out of the first round. Would be an interesting test for Lance who has gotten a lot of different looks/styles throughout his short, well-traveled career. Going the distance with Green on short notice is no small feat, this would be a interesting matchup for fans to watch next.
Gibson’s next fight: Terrance McKinney or Thiago Moises
Kennedy Nzechukwu and Marcus Buchecha
Kennedy Nzechukwu and Marcus Buchecha fought to a draw on Saturday in what was an action-packed bout. The bout ultimately ended up being decided by a point deduction by Kennedy for eye poking, otherwise he would have logged a victory.
Kennedy’s next fight should be against Martin Buday. Kennedy and Martin were scheduled to fight back in April, but it was cancelled after Nzechukwu withdrew. However, Buday has since released by the promotion (despite coming off a win and going 7-1 with the promotion since 2021). So instead, Kennedy should take on Louie Sutherland who is 0-1 with the UFC. Sutherland made his debut against Valter Walker in late October. Walker heel hooked “The Vanilla Gorilla” in just 84 seconds. Valter did the same to Kennedy back in July but that time took under a minute. Match these two up. Slim pickings here.
As for Buchecha, Marcus should fight Mohammed Usman in his next fight. Mohammed is 4-2 in the UFC and was last in the octagon back in June with a unanimous decision against Hamdy Abdelwahab. Hamdy has since been released by the promotion. Prior to that, Mohammed dropped fights to Thomas Petersen and Mick Parkin.
Both of these men are in dangerous territory as the promotion has cleared out several guys that these guys have fought. Anything could happen here. Nice to book with the loser or both guys, or neither facing the axe.
Nzechukwu’s next fight: Louie Sutherland
Buchecha’s next fight: Mohammed Usman
