UFC Vegas 112 went down last Saturday night (Dec. 13, 2025), which not only marked the final event for the promotion in 2025, it also signaled the end of its deal with ESPN as it head into 2026 with Paramount
CBS as its new broadcast partner.
Plenty of fighters were left feeling the post-fight blues, including Giga Chikadze, who suffered his third straight defeat after he was knocked out by Kevin Vallejos (see it again here). And Morgan Charriere, who was knocked out by Melquizael Costa in the very first round (highlights here). But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Brandon Royval.
Coming into the event, you know Royval had his eye on a potential rematch against Joshua Van, who is now the king at 125 pounds. If you recall, Van defeated “Raw Dawg” this past summer, ending his two-fight win streak and march to the title. Van won the strap last weekend at UFC 323 after defeating Alexandre Pantoja via technical knockout (TKO) due to an injury (see it again here).
Unfortunately, for Royval, things only went further downhill for him after suffering a first-round knockout loss at the hands of Manel Kape (see it again here), giving him his first two-fight losing streak in nearly five years. The loss is a crucial one for “Raw Dawg,” who will now likely cost him his spot in the Top 5.
“Thank you for all who checked up on me,” Royval wrote on Instagram after his stunning defeat. “Sad about the loss, but my health is okay, and I’ll live to fight another day.”
Royval (33) still has a lot of fight left in him and he does have the skills to get back on track in a hurry. The only downside to his trek back up is that the division is getting more and more crowded with the likes of Tatsuro Taira and Kyoji Horiguchi, among others, making some noise.
As far as what could be next for Royval, a showdown against Steve Erceg could be in order. Erceg is currently ranked No. 9 in the division and recently got back into the win column by defeating Ode’ Osbourne three months ago, snapping his dreadful three-fight losing streak. Erceg was once a titel contender himself, a shot he got after winning just three fights inside the Octagon.
It would be a fresh matchup for both men with the winner getting some much-needed momentum moving forward. For Royval, taking out a former title contender will give him the confidence he needs to make another run to the top, but a loss would be detrimental for his own championship fight dreams.
