UFC Vegas 112 fight week continues. Saturday evening, the final event of the ESPN era of shows takes place after a seven-year run. A venue that had yet to hold an event serves as the setting for the final show of the year, as the UFC Apex in Enterprise, NV is this week’s venue for UFC Fight Night.
Live coverage of UFC Vegas 112 kicks off at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT with the prelims. ESPN+ will, for the last time, carry the event from start to finish. ESPN2 will join the prelims in-progress at around 9:30 pm ET/ 6:30 pm PT following its coverage of the 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Tournament.
Main card action caps the evening at 10 pm ET/ 7 pm PT on both ESPN+ and ESPN2. If there are no more alterations to be made to the Saturday night schedule, the final version of UFC Vegas 112 will feature a slate of 13 fights to close out a seven-year stint on the Disney-owned cabler.
Embed from Getty ImagesAfter Saturday night’s 2025 finale, the UFC will be on a 41-day winter break until Jan. 24, when UFC 324 takes place inside T-Mobile Arena in Enterprise. This will be the longest window between shows since the promotion was on pause due to COVID-19 in the spring of 2020.
UFC Vegas 112 Main Event: No. 2 Contender Brandon Royval vs. No. 6 Contender Manel Kape
At the top of the bill on Saturday night, you’ll be seeing a top-10 showdown at 125 lbs. No. 2 contender Brandon Royval (17-8 MMA, 7-4 UFC) collides with No. 6 contender Manel Kape (21-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC.)
This fight has been booked three times in 2025 alone. Planned contests in March and June were scrubbed due to a Royval injury and a Kape foot fracture and subsequent surgery, respectively, setting up the Dec. 13 date. It’ll be a five-round fight at five minutes per round to close the show.
Royval comes into UFC Vegas 112 on Saturday night having posted a mark of 3-2 in his last five appearances dating back to the spring of 2023. On June 28, he dropped a unanimous decision to now-UFC Flyweight Champion Joshua Van (16-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) after three rounds of action.
With Van having won the title at flyweight a week ago, he’s now got a target on his back. Although a win for the No. 2 contender in the UFC Vegas 112 main event on Saturday evening wouldn’t necessarily guarantee a rematch between Brandon Royval and Joshua Van right away, given that Tatsuro Taira (18-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) is of the mindset that he’ll be the new champion’s next opponent, an eventual rematch could be in the offing at some point in the future pending the result.
Meanwhile, Manel Kape will be making the walk this weekend with a record of 4-1 over the course of his past five appearances and an ongoing two-fight winning streak. On March 1, he finished Asu Almabayev (23-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) inside the third round with knees and punches.
Kape has now been afforded a clean bill of health after undergoing foot surgery earlier this year. Can he keep his momentum going?
UFC Vegas 112 Co-Main Event: No. 15 Contender Giga Chikadze vs. Kevin Vallejos
Immediately prior to the headlining fight, the UFC Vegas 112 co-main event sees action take place at featherweight when No. 15 contender Giga Chikadze (15-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) takes on Kevin Vallejos (16-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC.) This is a three-round bout at five minutes apiece.
Chikadze will be making the walk with a record of 2-3 in his last five fights. He’s dropped two contests in a row, including a unanimous decision to David Onama in Des Moines on April 26, a contest for which he missed weight the day before.
Heading into UFC Vegas 112, Chikadze hasn’t won a fight inside the fabled Octagon since 2023. Can he buck the trend on Saturday night?
Across the way, Kevin Vallejos will be making third walk to the Octagon on Saturday night. This past summer, Vallejos scored a unanimous decision victory over Danny Silva (10-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at the selfsame UFC Apex.
He’s posted a perfect 5-0 record in his last five fights. The 2024 Contender Series graduate is in his most crucial contest yet, given the co-main event slot, and with Chikadze being a ranked opponent, another win would be a great resume-builder for him going into 2026.
UFC Vegas 112: Cesar Almeida vs. Cezary Oleksiejczuk
Also on UFC Vegas 112’s main card, you’ll be seeing a middleweight attraction between Cesar Almeida (7-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Cezary Oleksiejczuk (16-3 MMA, UFC promotional debut.) Almeida will be one of the final fighters to make the walk to the cage this year after being among the first fighters to walk in the cage on the opening show of 2025.
On Jan. 11, he scored a first-round knockout over Abdul Razak Alhassan (12-7, 1 NC MMA, 6-7, 1 NC UFC) with a left hook. He began the year with a win, but now that he’s back to bookend the year, will he get another trip to victory lane?
In the other corner, Cezary Oleksiejczuk has gone 5-0 in his last five appearances and 2-0 during this calendar year alone. Back on Sept. 2, he needed only 36 blistering seconds to stop Theo Haig (6-1 MMA) with hammerfists.
He did more than enough to impress UFC CEO Dana White to score his UFC deal by the end of the program that evening. Oleksiejczuk has kept busy this year.
12 months ago, he was a few short weeks away from competing in a modified rules fight versus Marcin Naruszcka, a fight which he won. Now, he’s ending his 2025 with his UFC debut.
Rest of the Card
The UFC Vegas 112 main card is rounded out by these fights:
- a featherweight contest between Melquizael Costa (24-7 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and Morgan Charriere (21-11-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC,)
- a heavyweight affair pairing Kennedy Nzechukwu (14-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) with Marcus Buchecha (5-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC,)
- and a contracted catchweight at 160 lbs matching King Green (32-17-1, 1 NC MMA, 13-12-1, 1 NC UFC) against Lance Gibson Jr. (9-1 MMA, UFC promotional debut.)
Which fight or fights are you looking forward to on UFC Vegas 112’s main card? Let us know in the comments.
