There’s something fitting about the ESPN era ending with an Apex card, but I have to say, this one wasn’t half bad. UFC Vegas 112 had some important fights between relevant names and gave us some highlight-reel finishes. The card featured Yaroslav Amosov’s long overdue UFC debut, one of the sport’s brightest prospects in Kevin Vallejos and was headlined by a title eliminator. What more can you ask from an Apex show? With the last card of 2025 now in the books, let’s look at what’s next for our main card winners.
Manel Kape
With Joshua Van’s win last week at UFC 323, the state of the title picture in the flyweight division was in the air. Not knowing how long Pantoja will be out for with his injured arm, Dana White did say there was a good chance that Van would defend before “The Cannibal” could be back. With Kyoji Horiguchi booked against Amir Albazi in February, Tatsuro Taira was probably the frontrunner to face Van. However, this entire ordeal also opened the door for both men in UFC Vegas 112’s main event.
Brandon Royval was coming off a fight of the year contender with Van (who wouldn’t want to see that rematch?) and has a win over Taira. But the man everyone had their eye on was Manel Kape. The man they call “Starboy” made short work of the former title challenger, knocking him out in just 3:18. Royval had only been finished with strikes once before and that was due to an injury; Kape is the first to separate him from his consciousness.
It might’ve taken longer than anticipated when he first came into the UFC, but the 32-year-old has finally delivered on the hype and should be fighting for the title next. I know I said the same thing about Tatsuro Taira last week, but Kape’s win over Royval eclipses Taira’s over Moreno. Whether it’s in the next couple months or after a Van vs Pantoja rematch, Manel Kape’s next fight has to be for a title.
Kape’s next fight: Title shot
Kevin Vallejos
The Argentinian, who had turned 24 just five days prior to the bout, offered himself a sweet birthday present as he became the first man to ever finish Giga Chikadze with strikes. After a slow start in the first round, Vallejos made quick work of the Georgian in the second, backing Chikadze to the fence and landing a nasty spinning backfist as he was retreating to his left. The elbows that followed on the ground put him out.
After this win, Vallejos will most likely be ranked come Tuesday, which makes it hard to matchmake for him. He’s barely 24, there shouldn’t be any rush to have face the division’s top dogs, yet his quick rise will make these kinds of matchups inevitable. It’s been common practice for the UFC to test their top prospects with hard stylistic matchups just to see what they had. Every prospect known for their striking gets thrown in there with a grappler at some point to see if they can pass that test. I think it’s time for Vallejos for face a grappler and Pat Sabatini, who’s on a three-fight win streak, fits that profile perfectly.
Vallejos’ next fight: Pat Sabatini
Cezary Oleksiejczuk
It’s hard to tell whether the idea of ‘Cesar vs Cezary’ was intentional from the UFC, but in hindsight, that gimmick was probably the most interesting thing about this fight. The younger brother of Michal turned heads after earning a contract in just 36 seconds on the Contender Series, so this matchup was meant to be fireworks. But the Polish fighter opted for the safer route of just riding control time to an easy unanimous decision. In a way, this could be seen as a sign of maturity and good fight iQ, as it might not be wise to stand and bang with the former Glory kickboxer. However, this does tell us that the 25-year-old is still very green and shouldn’t be thrown to the wolves just yet. I think the soon-to-be 38-year-old Brad Tavares would serve as a logical next test for Oleksiejczuk who clearly still needs to iron some things out.
Oleksiejczuk’s next fight: Brad Tavares
Melquizael Costa
He won’t win Fighter of the Year, because it’s virtually impossible for an unranked fighter to take home that award, but Melquizael Costa deserves some kind of recognition for the year he’s had. He didn’t simply go 4-0, he went 4-0 against very respectable names. He began his year with a 3-0 stretch in the span of just 85 days and punctuated it with a stunning head kick KO. After losing his promotional debut to Thiago Moises on short notice a division up, he’s gone 6-1 at featherweight with his sole loss coming to the red hot top10 ranked Steve Garcia. At 29, Costa seems to be putting the pieces together and I think he has earned a shot at the rankings. David Onama needs to regroup after his last performance, let’s see what he can do against “The Dalmatian”.
Costa’s next fight: David Onama
King Green
There’s something both impressive and commendable about a veteran like King Green to still be able to squeak out split decisions like these at age 39. This is someone who’s been through the ringer as his strength of schedule speaks for itself, yet he’s still out here winning UFC fights. However, I think the hard miles his body has put on through the years are becoming increasingly apparent. He still deserves to be employed, but his days of fighting the Mauricio Ruffys and Paddy Pimbletts of the world should be over. I think the perfect opponent is Michael Johnson. It’s kind of baffling that those two have never met in the octagon. Win or lose against Alexander Hernandez next month, I want to see Johnson face Green next.
Green’s next fight: Michael Johnson
