A flyweight fight between Brandon Royval and Manel Kape will headline the final event of the ESPN era in the United States at UFC Fight Night 266 on December 15th.

The match-up had originally been scheduled to take place back in March of this year, but was scrapped after Royval withdrew due to suffering lingering symptoms after a pair of concussions in training.

Royval had came into this year with high hopes after back-to-back split-decision victories over Brandon Moreno and Tatsuro Taira in 2024, but after returning to action in June he came off second-best against rising contender Joshua Van, losing by unanimous decision.

The 33-year-old Royval isn’t too far off of another bite at title contention however as he’s still ranked No.3 in the division, four spots above the No.7 ranked Kape.

Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Kape comes in off two TKO finishes in a row, having stopped both Bruno Gustavo da Silva and Asu Almabayev in the third round.

Kape’s time in the UFC had got off to a shaky start when he suffered back-to-back defeats in 2021, but since then he’s won six out of seven fights in the Octagon, and a win over Royval could put him into the title reckoning at 125lbs.

Royval vs. Kape fronts a UFC Fight Night 266 event that will bring an end to the UFC’s 2025 campaign and draw the curtains on their U.S. broadcasting deal with ESPN prior to a new era on Paramount+ next year.