UFC on ESPN 72 Live Winners and Losers, Results
It's free-for-all time in the flyweight division.
A week ago, established champion Alexandre Pantoja was preparing for a fourth defense of his title against surging but unproven contender Joshua Van.
Now, after the two did battle for less than half a minute before Pantoja's left arm gave way and made Van the new king, far less is certain at 125 pounds.
Enter ex-title challenger Brandon Royval and ambitious sixth-ranked rival Manel Kape and you had all the ingredients for an important match in the newly-reshuffled ranks.
Royval arrived having lost just three times in four years—twice to Pantoja, once to Van—while Kape was 6-3 since coming over from the Rizin promotion, and had won two straight since his last setback at UFC 304 17 months ago.
The B/R combat team was in place to take in all the action from the Apex in Las Vegas and delivered a real-time list of the show's definitive winners and losers. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.
Winner: Making a Point
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Kape said all week that he'd make Royval respect his power.
Consider it done, even under protest.
The sixth-ranked flyweight drove hie foe to the canvas with a right hook and appeared to briefly separate him from consciousness with another right, prompting an intervention from referee Herb Dean that ended things at 3:18 of Round 1.
Royval disagreed with the wave-off but soon congratulated Kape with a handshake and a hug.
And once the pleasantries were dispensed, the Vegas-based winner loudly claimed his spot at the front of the title-shot line against Van, who'd earned his championship opportunity after he replaced an injured Kape and beat Royval in June.
"You have my belt. If I didn't break my foot in July, I'd be the champion now," Kape said. "Sign the contract. Nobody can deny me my belt. I'm the best here. I'm the f--king best."
The win was his eighth in 11 UFC fights and fourth in a row, all by finish.
"I'm the most dangerous man in this division," he said. "I'm the most skilled fighter in this company. Nobody does what I do."
Winner: Coachability
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Kevin Vallejos cruised through a desultory first round in his featherweight co-main event against Giga Chikadze, prompting the broadcast team to implore him to unleash the aggression if he intended to beat the Georgian veteran.
Message received.
The 24-year-old had just missed with a long right hand that prompted the elusive Chikadze to spin out to his left, and directly into the path of the spinning back fist that connected flush and gave the youngster his third straight victory.
"The minute that we're talking about him needing to put the foot to the gas, he made the reads, he knew how Giga was going to circle away," analyst Laura Sanko said. "And boom."
The blow sent the instantly compromised Chikadze to the floor, where he was defenseless to three straight hard elbows that drew a rescue from Mark Smith.
"This is a dream come true," Vallejos said. "This is blood, this is sweat, this is effort. I'm not special, you have to find the tools and then do all you can with them."
Winner: Brazilian Whacks
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Melquizael Costa gave a specific shout out to his hometown.
But he was carrying the flag for his entire country, Brazil, too.
The 29-year-old featherweight closed out a four-win year with a highlight-worthy head kick KO of Morgan Charrière that ended their bout after just 74 seconds.
It was a sixth straight win across 2024 and 2025 for Costa—whose streak is the third-longest active run in the division—and came in the fifth of six fights on Saturday's show involving a Brazilian.
The cradle of modern MMA went 4-1-1 in those fights, but none of the other results compared to Costa's, which came when his left leg connected with the right side of Charrière's head and instantly rendered the Frenchman semi-conscious as he tumbled backward to the floor.
"I am so happy. This is such a happy moment for me," Costa said. "This is for everyone. There are so many kids watching me in my hometown."
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Winner: Keeping the Gate
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When you define "gatekeeper" in a combat sports context, you define King Green.
The 39-year-old has lost more than he's won over the last several years, but the guys who've beaten him across that time frame—particularly lately—have gone on to much bigger and better things.
In fact, his two most recent conquerors, namely Paddy Pimblett and Mauricio Ruffy, have since climbed into the UFC rankings at lightweight.
But it'll be awhile longer before Lance Gibson Jr. gets there.
"(Gibson) let the moment get to him a little bit," analyst Michael Bisping said.
The second-generation octagonal athlete seemed bamboozled by Green's awkward manner and perpetual in-fight trash talk, ultimately dropping a curiously scored split decision in the opening fight of the night's main card.
Two of three judges gave Green the first round and two of the same three gave Gibson the second, making the clean Round 3 sweep in Green's direction decisive for the veteran of 27 UFC fights, who landed 74 strikes to his foe's 35 and did more damage after his one takedown than Gibson did with two.
"I thought I was doing my thing," Green said. "I thought I was swagging it up."
Winner: Resume Reality
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Sometimes, guys coming into the UFC with gaudy records are exposed.
That wasn't the case with Ukrainian welterweight Yaroslav Amosov.
The former Bellator champ arrived with a 28-1 record and 20 career finishes but showed the resume was legit with a first-round finish of the all-time octagonal wins leader at 170 pounds, Neil Magny, in just three minutes and 14 seconds.
An anaconda choke drew the tap from Magny after Amosov had mounted him, then spun and isolated the Haitian's left arm to lock in the maneuver. Magny made a brief attempt to escape before submitting for the seventh time in 46 career fights.
Amosov arrived as the show's biggest betting favorite at minus-440.
"This is a happy time," he said. "Every sportsman has a dream, the No. 1 belt. Every sportsman wants it."
Winner: Short-Notice Stock
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He didn't win the fight, but Isaac Thomson came out of his featherweight prelim having seen his stock rise significantly from where it was a week ago.
The 23-year-old from Australia took the bout with Brazilian veteran Joanderson Brito on just four days' notice, made the contracted 146-pound weight limit on Friday, and outhustled his more accomplished foe while winning Round 1 on all scorecards.
The competition went downhill from there, though, with Brito chasing a finish by d'arce choke in the second round and continuing to apply effective pressure on the way to earning 29-28—or two rounds to one—nods from all three judges.
Still, the youngster trained by former UFC star Urijah Faber landed 127 strikes, scored four takedowns in five tries, and racked up three minutes in positional control time while setting himself up for at least another octagonal opportunity.
"Hats off to Thomson," blow-by-blow man Brendan Fitzgerald said. "He came in here in a tough spot and got a round against an experienced opponent."
Winner: Big-Bodied Pride
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Let's be clear: Steven Asplund doesn't look the part.
The 261-pounder wears the loose skin of a guy who used to tip the scales beyond 500 pounds, and he's not averse to poking some fun at himself about it.
But the guy can fight. And he can talk, too.
The 27-year-old put out a work rate that belied his mammoth size, establishing a heavyweight record with 168 significant strikes in a scheduled three-rounder while actually stopping fellow big man Sean Sharaf at 3:49 of Round 2.
Then he grabbed a mic for a chat with Bisping that was part stand-up comedy, part emotional outburst and part motivational speech.
"I want every little fat kid to know you don't have to be ashamed of your body," Asplund said. "I was bullied my whole life. I look disgusting, I know I do. People have a lot of sh-t to say, but be confident. I wanted my kid to see me and say 'I'm proud of my daddy.'"
Loser: Wearing Your Work
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Come Sunday morning, it'll be easy to tell what Allen Frye Jr. does for a living.
The 27-year-old from North Carolina made his UFC debut on Saturday's prelim card and walked out of the cage wearing the evidence of his vocation, not to mention an 0-1 record following a decision loss to fellow newbie Guilherme Pat.
Frye plodded forward and straight into perpetual striking damage from his 6'5", 238-pound foe, suffering a cut under his right eye that was later complemented by a bloody mouth, swelling around both eyes and a cut on his left ear.
His blood covered Pat's neck and shoulders during their frequent clinches along the fence and Frye's white fight trunks were smeared red by fight's end, too.
He ended on the short end of three 30-27 scorecards and lost for the first time as a pro after six straight wins by finish in smaller regional promotions.
Winner: Ladies Night
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Canadian slugger Jamey-Lyn Horth got the show started with a first-round finish of flyweight foe Tereza Bleda, shaking loose from a takedown attempt and battering her Czech foe with a barrage of hard shots before Kerry Hatley intervened at 2:05.
"We knew that my striking was going to be a lot better," Horth said. "We were prepared to strike and keep our distance ... and show everyone in the UFC I have a right hand."
About an hour later, 15th-ranked bantamweight Luana Santos earned a unanimous decision over another Canadian, Melissa Croden, in a three-rounder.
UFC women were scheduled to carry three of 13 scheduled fights on the card but that total was trimmed by one when the featured prelim matching Amanda Lemos and Gillian Robertson was scrapped by a medical issue.
Lemos was pulled from the show just a few hours before the event went live at 7 p.m. ET.
Lemos last fought in September and is 2-2 in four fights since losing a decision to strawweight champ Zhang Weili at UFC 292 in 2023. Robertson, meanwhile, is on a four-fight win streak and is 13-6 in 19 bouts since arriving to the promotion in 2017.
Losers: Four-Letter Network Fans
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Saturday's Fight Night show marked the end of a long-term partnership between UFC and ESPN, thanks to a seven-year deal between the MMA conglomerate's parent company—the TKO Group—and Paramount that was announced in August.
The deal has an annual value of $1.1 billion and Paramount will exclusively distribute the UFC's 13 numbered events and 30 Fight Nights on Paramount+, with occasional events to simulcast on CBS. The first event with Paramount will be UFC 324, headlined by Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett, on Jan. 24, 2026.
ESPN had carried UFC events since January 2019. Its final show was the annual tribute to former SportsCenter anchor Stuart Scott, who was among the first high-profile broadcasters to endorse the sport. He died in 2015 at age 49.
"This deal puts UFC amongst the biggest sports in the world," UFC boss Dana White posted on X. "The exposure provided by Paramount and the CBS networks under the new structure is a huge win for our athletes and anyone who watches and loves this sport."
Full Card Results
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Main Card
Manel Kape def. Brandon Royval by TKO (punches), 3:19, Round 1
Kevin Vallejos def. Giga Chikadze by KO (spinning back fist), 1:29, Round 2
Cezary Oleksiejczuk def. Cesar Almeida by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Melquizael Costa def. Morgan Charrière by KO (kick), 1:14, Round 1
Kennedy Nzechukwu drew with Marcus Buchecha by unanimous decision (28-28, 28-28, 28-28)
King Green def. Lance Gibson Jr. by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Preliminary Card
Yaroslav Amosov def. Neil Magny by submission (anaconda choke), 3:14, Round 1
Joanderson Brito def. Isaac Thomson by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Steven Asplund def. Sean Sharaf by TKO (punches), 3:49, Round 2
Luana Santos def. Melissa Croden by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Guilherme Pat def. Allen Frye Jr. by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Jamey-Lyn Horth def. Tereza Bleda by TKO (punches), 2:05, Round 1
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