UFC Apex: Royval vs Kape - Dec 13 🇺🇸

[wandshogun09]

Final UFC card of 2025 and it’s at the Apex…

ESPN MAIN CARD
Brandon Royval vs Manel Kape

Giga Chikadze vs Kevin Vallejos

Cesar Almeida vs Cezary Oleksiejczuk 

Morgan Charriere vs Melquizael Costa

Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Marcus Buchecha

King Green vs Lance Gibson Jr

ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Amanda Lemos vs Gillian Robertson 

Joanderson Brito vs Isaac Thomson

Neil Magny vs Yaroslav Amosov

Sean Sharaf vs Steven Asplund

Luana Santos vs Melissa Croden 

AJ Frye vs Guilherme Pat 

Jamey-Lyn Horth vs Tereza Bleda 

 

First off, could they have not made that poster just a little bit brighter? Jesus fuck. Bout order’s not official yet and I’m expecting there’ll probably be a couple of fights added. Not much to this one but there are a few fighters I usually enjoy watching on there.

Royval vs Kape is one of those fights that gets announced and you’re just expecting it to get cancelled. Christ, this is already the third attempt this year at getting this fight in the cage! They were previously scheduled to fight in March and then June. Royval pulled out the first time, Kape pulled out the second time. Third time lucky? It’s a good fight if they both show up. Big ‘if’ though. Fully expecting one of them to drop out again and someone else steps in. My guess would be probably Charles Johnson.

Charriere vs Costa is my pick of the bunch. Sounds like all kinds of fun that one. Front runner for FOTN. Chikadze vs Vallejos is kind of interesting. Vallejos is talking a big game and looks good so far. Chikadze’s gone off the boil big time but if Vallejos beats him impressively it might set him up for some big names and a fast-track up the Featherweight ladder in 2026. Luana Santos is…nice to look at. Nzechukwu vs Buchecha isn’t anything to write home about but Buchecha could really do with redeeming himself after an awful debut. Yes, Cezary Oleksiejczuk is the brother of Michal Oleksiejczuk. Brito is usually pretty entertaining to watch. It’s not a great card but it’s alright, I guess. 

I never get why they always seem to end the year with a big steaming dollop of Apex though. You’d think they’d wanna close out the year with a bang, instead they’re going out with a whimper.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Edited December 13, 2025 by wandshogun09

[wandshogun09]

Former Bellator champ Amosov (28-1) just about squeezing his UFC debut in before the end of the year and he’s taking the Magny Test. 

 

[Bruce85]

Given the state of other Bellator fighters debutes lately I’m fully expecting Magny to get the UD here. 

[Dai]

Looks like a poster for a Tanning Salon. And youre right, Magny seems like hes a spoiler for a lot of people these last few years, so wouldn't shock me if he did it here also. I assume this isnt the final card order, as when the inevitable Kape pullout happens, they surely arent headlining a card with someone called Gillian Robertson (who?).

[wandshogun09]

On 11/24/2025 at 3:32 PM, Dai said:

I assume this isnt the final card order, as when the inevitable Kape pullout happens, they surely arent headlining a card with someone called Gillian Robertson (who?).

Yeah this is how the running order is looking currently…

I actually don’t think this is a terrible card for a Fight Night. And especially by Apex standards. It really is that feeling that Royval or Kape are bound to drop out any day now that’s dragging it down for me. There are some fun fights on this one though and depending who King Green gets in the main card opener, it might actually be one of the better main cards in Apex history. I know that’s a low bar but you know. Magny vs Amosov not even making the main card at the Apex is a weird one. No doubt the bout order will get shuffled 59 times between now and the 13th anyway though. 

[Bruce85]

Surely Amosov should get a higher spot than the prelims on an apex card. Not sure I’ve ever seen him fight but at 28-1 and a former champ of Bellator you’d think he’d at least make the main card. 
 

Not a bad card, it will kill a few hours on a Sunday. 

[Carbomb]

Think you should change the first poll to "Which day will the Royval/Kape fight get cancelled?" @wandshogun09

[wandshogun09]

18 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Think you should change the first poll to "Which day will the Royval/Kape fight get cancelled?" @wandshogun09

Done. Kind of. Didn’t know how to work the ‘which day’ angle so put my own spin on it. Bound to go tits up in the next 13 days, isn’t it? 

[Carbomb]

Good work!

[Dai]

Even Magny vs a scrub should make the main card of an Apex as he's fairly well know. That position with one of the top home grown Bellator fighters seems a deliberate dick move by someone. 

 

With all the talk in the main thread about classic Survivor Series, it looks like King Greene is facing a mystery opponent for this, just like in the old school Survivor Series graphics 

[Carbomb]

What I don't understand, even with White's pettiness, is that Amosov actually went to the Ukraine with Lomachenko and the Klitschkos to fight against the Russians - it's not relevant directly to MMA, but it does make him particularly marketable. Even with all the right-wing crypto-bro Two-Can Van Dammes who support Putin, they can at least respect the guy has fought for reals as well as in the cage.

[Bruce85]

They both made weight and haven’t pulled out (yet), looks like it might go ahead! 
 

Still don’t get the logic behind putting Amosov on the prelims. Dana’s vendetta for fighters from other companies is on the same level as Vince with WCW guys. 

[Tamura]

2 hours ago, Bruce85 said:

Still don’t get the logic behind putting Amosov on the prelims. Dana’s vendetta for fighters from other companies is on the same level as Vince with WCW guys. 

Well he put former Bellator fighters Patchy Mix, Aaron Pico and Patrício Pitbull on the main card of UFC PPVs for their debuts, and look how that worked out.

[Bruce85]

6 hours ago, Tamura said:

Well he put former Bellator fighters Patchy Mix, Aaron Pico and Patrício Pitbull on the main card of UFC PPVs for their debuts, and look how that worked out.

Actually that’s very true! They all shit the bed so maybe he right. 

[wandshogun09]

Yeah the Bellator boys have had a mare this year. I do find it a bit weird that Amosov’s on the prelims though, especially with an opponent like Magny. To not even be deemed worthy of a main card spot on an Apex card is pretty harsh.

Regardless, here he is in the UFC kit for the first time…

Had loads going on this week but I finally updated the opening post. King Green finally has an opponent. Don’t know why they left it until three days before show time to confirm it but he’s fighting UFC newcomer Lance Gibson Jr. He’s 30 years old, 9-1 and also fought a bunch of times in Bellator. He’s also the son of former fighter Lance Gibson Sr who fought Dan Severn way back in the 90s and lost to Evan Tanner at UFC 29.

Really not a bad little card for the Apex in my opinion. We’ve had a lot worse.

10 hours ago, Bruce85 said:

They both made weight and haven’t pulled out (yet), looks like it might go ahead! 

You can’t convince me this isn’t AI.

Nah seriously, hopefully it goes ahead. But the day is still young. Plenty of time for one of these guys to stub their toe at the hotel or fall out of bed and cut their head open or something. In a year when we’ve seen a main event cancelled literally as the walkouts were about to happen, I’m not counting my chickens with a couple of serial pullout merchants like these two.