NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 13: UFC President and CEO Dana White is seen on stage during the UFC 322 Press Conference at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on November 13, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
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HIGHLIGHTS
- Kevin Vallejos landed a spinning backfist to elbow combo that ended Giga Chikadze’s night—Dana White’s reaction says it all.
- The 23-year-old is now 16-1 with double-digit KOs—here’s why featherweight should be on notice.
- Full results from the final UFC event of the year and the last one on ESPN.
When a finish gets a response from UFC President Dana White on social media, you can bet there was an amazing knockout. That’s what we saw in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Kape.
Kevin Vallejos scored a spectacular spinning backfist to elbow combination to hand Giga Chikadze a brutal loss. To make things worse—or better depending on whose perspective—the win will almost certainly land Vallejos in the Top 15 and Chikadze will no longer be ranked.
Here’s a look at the finish:
After the fight, White took to X with a simple hashtag.
The “now you know” is a signature line from White as he often has a pre-event segment called “if you don’t know, now you know.” The purpose of the segment is to call out a fight or matchup that you might not recognize.
White was on point with this one. Vallejos has established himself as one of the top recent talents from White’s Contender Series. While he struggled a bit with Chikadze’s striking and rhythm in the first round, Vallejos found himself in the second and made a significant statement.
Why Vallejos Is a Problem at Featherweight
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 13: Kevin Vallejos of Argentina reacts after a knockout victory against Giga Chikadze of Georgia in a featherweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on December 13, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Zuffa LLC
At 24 years old, Vallejos is just getting started. The Argentinian nicknamed “El Chino” now sits at 16-1 with double-digit knockouts and only a single decision loss on his record. Most of his wins come by stoppage, and a large share of those happen in the first round.
His style is pressure-based with serious power in his right hand and spinning attacks. He’s got enough grappling to threaten the back if opponents shoot sloppy, but the hands are the headliner. Before the Chikadze fight, he had already TKO’d Seung Woo Choi in the first round and outworked Danny Silva over three, giving him a 2-0 UFC start that analysts flagged as quietly impressive.
Chikadze publicly dismissed him as “still in kindergarten” during the build-up. That quote aged poorly.
UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Kape Full Results
- Manel Kape def. Brandon Royval via first-round TKO (Flyweight)
- Kevin Vallejos def. Giga Chikadze via second-round KO (Featherweight)
- Cezary Oleksiejczuk def. Cesar Almeida via unanimous decision (30-27×3) (Middleweight)
- Melquizael Costa def. Morgan Charrière via first-round KO (Featherweight)
- Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Marcus Buchecha – Draw (28-28×3) (Heavyweight)
- King Green def. Lance Gibson Jr. via split decision (29-28×2, 28-29)
- Joanderson Brito def. Isaac Thomson via unanimous decision (29-28×3) (Featherweight)
- Yaroslav Amosov def. Neil Magny via first-round submission (D’Arce choke) (Welterweight)
- Steven Asplund def. Sean Sharaf via third-round TKO (Heavyweight)
- Luana Santos def. Melissa Croden via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28×2) (Women’s Bantamweight)
- Guilherme Pat def. Allen Frye Jr. via unanimous decision (30-27×3) (Heavyweight)
- Jamey-Lyn Horth def. Tereza Bleda via first-round TKO (Women’s Flyweight)
The card was the last of the year and final UFC event on ESPN. It ends an era and will also test the thirst of MMA fans as they will have to go three full weeks without an event.
The next UFC event we see will be streamed on Paramount+. I’ll see you there.
