Published On: Mon, Dec 8th, 2025

UFC Fight Night 266: How to watch Royval vs. Kape, Vegas lineup, odds

The UFC stays in its “Sin City” home base this week with flyweight contenders at the top of the card.

Here's how to watch UFC Fight Night 266, which closes out the promotion’s calendar year, as well as its 7-year run on ESPN.

Broadcast and streaming info

UFC Fight Night 266 has a main card that streams at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+. The prelims stream on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET.

Stay tuned to MMA Junkie for additional broadcast details later this week.

Main event: Brandon Royval

  • Record: 17-8 MMA, 7-4 UFC
  • Opponent: Manel Kape (21-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC)
  • Division: Flyweight
  • Key wins: Tatsuro Taira, Brandon Moreno, Matheus Nicolau, Kai Kara-France
  • Misc.: Royval challenged Alexandre Pantoja for the title in a rematch at UFC 296 and came up short. After split decision wins over former champ Moreno and current contender Taira, he dropped a Fight of the Night decision to Joshua Van at UFC 317 in June. With Van now the new champion after his injury-TKO upset of Pantoja, a win for Royval is crucial to get another shot at Van.

Main event: Manel Kape

  • Record: 21-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC
  • Opponent: Brandon Royval (17-8 MMA, 7-4 UFC)
  • Division: Flyweight
  • Key wins: Asu Almabayev, Bruno Silva, Ode Osbourne
  • Misc.: Kape has back-to-back third-round knockout wins after a loss to Muhammad Mokaev 18 months ago. He was set to fight Royval in June, but had to pull out with an injured foot. And that came on the heels of a Royval pullout of a March booking. Now they finally can figure it out.

Manel Kape def. Asu Almabayev, UFC Fight Night 253 (via UFC)

Main event: Giga Chikadze

  • Record: 15-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC
  • Opponent: Kevin Vallejos (16-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC)
  • Division: Featherweight
  • Key wins: Alex Caceres, Edson Barboza, Cub Swanson
  • Misc.: Chikadze’s great featherweight run that included a 7-0 start in the UFC is in the rearview mirror, and he’s lost three of his past four fights – all by decision. Worse, in April, he missed weight for a loss to David Onama. 

Apr 26, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, UNITED STATES; Giga Chikadze (red gloves) prepares to fight David Onama (not pictured) during UFC Fight Night at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images

Main event: Kevin Vallejos

  • Record: 16-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC
  • Opponent: Giga Chikadze (15-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC)
  • Division: Featherweight
  • Key wins: Danny Silva, Seung Woo Choi
  • Misc.: The only loss of Vallejos’ career came on DWCS to Jean Silva – who has gone on to prominence in the UFC. He got another chance and took advantage, and then made good on both his fights in the promotion this year.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 15: (L-R) Kevin Vallejos of Argentina faces SeungWoo Choi of South Korea in a featherweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on March 15, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

UFC debut: Cezary Oleksiejczuk

  • Record: 16-3
  • Opponent: Cesar Almeida (7-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC)
  • Division: Middleweight
  • Misc.: After he took out eight-fight UFC veteran Tom Breese in February in just 90 seconds, the 25-year-old Polish fighter needed just 36 seconds for a DWCS knockout win to get his shot in the UFC. He’s the younger brother of eight-year UFC fighter Michael Oleksiejczuk.

Cezary Oleksiejczuk def. Theo Haig - DWCS 80

UFC debut: Yaroslav Amosov

  • Record: 28-1
  • Opponent: Neil Magny (31-13 MMA, 24-12 UFC)
  • Division: Welterweight
  • Misc.: The former Bellator welterweight champion finally gets to test himself in the UFC. He lost the Bellator title in that promotion’s final event before being bought and folded by the PFL, then was out for about 18 months. But he returned earlier this year and choked out UFC vet Curtis Millender, and now will test himself against a UFC welterweight record-holder.

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UFC debut: Steven Asplund

  • Record: 6-1
  • Opponent: Sean Sharaf (4-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
  • Division: Heavyweight
  • Misc.: The 27-year-old Minnesotan has five of his six wins by knockout, including his 16-second finish of Anthony Guarascio on DWCS in September to get his deal.

UFC debut: AJ Frye

  • Record: 6-0
  • Opponent: Guilherme Pat (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
  • Division: Heavyweight
  • Misc.: A teammate of longtime UFC fighter Derek Brunson, Frye has all six of his wins by knockout, including four in the first round.

UFC debut: Guilherme Pat

  • Record: 5-0
  • Opponent: AJ Frye (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
  • Division: Heavyweight
  • Misc.: Pat is back for the first time in 16 months. He had to pull out of a DWCS booking against Anthony Guarascio in June. (Steven Asplund took that fight instead, won in 16 seconds, and coincidentally makes his UFC debut Saturday, as well.) Instead of having to fight his way in, though, he just goes straight to the show.

UFC Fight Night 266 lineup

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape
  • Giga Chikadze vs. Kevin Vallejos
  • Cesar Almeida vs. Cezary Oleksiejczuk
  • Morgan Charriere vs. Melquizael Costa
  • Marcus Buchecha vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)

  • Amanda Lemos vs. Gillian Robertson
  • Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Joanderson Brito
  • Yaroslav Amosov vs. Neil Magny
  • Steven Asplund vs. Sean Sharaf
  • Melissa Croden vs. Luana Santos
  • AJ Frye vs. Guilherme Pat
  • Tereza Bleda vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth

UFC Fight Night 266 main card betting odds

  • Royval +220, Kape -295
  • Chikadze +200, Vallejos -265
  • Almeida +125, Oleksiejczuk -160
  • Charriere +105, Costa -125
  • Buchecha +120, Nzechukwu -155

UFC Fight Night 266 preliminary card betting odds

UFC on ESPN 67: Gillian Robertson

  • Amil -140, Emmers +110
  • Lemos +140, Robertson -185
  • Baghdasaryan +195, Brito -260
  • Amosov -390, Magny +280
  • Asplund -245, Sharaf +185
  • Croden +125, Santos -160
  • Frye +145, Pat -185
  • Bleda -160, Horth +125

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Fight Night 266: How to watch Royval vs. Kape, Vegas lineup, odds

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