Brandon
Royval worked his entire career to go to this point. The
questions now center on whether or not he can complete the
task.
“Raw Dawg” will get his crack at the undisputed
Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight title when he
rematches
Alexandre
Pantoja in the
UFC 296 co-headliner on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las
Vegas. Royval, 31, has rattled off three straight victories since
he submitted to a second-round rear-naked choke from the
American Top Team-trained Brazilian in their first meeting in
2021. He last competed on April 15, when he wiped out
Matheus
Nicolau with a first-round knee strike and follow-up punches at
UFC on ESPN 44.
As Royval approaches his second confrontation with Pantoja at 125
pounds, a look at a few of the rivalries that have helped chart his
course:
The
MMA Lab standout used well-timed takedowns, a crushing top game
and punishing ground-and-pound to beat Royval by unanimous decision
for the interim
Legacy Fighting Alliance flyweight championship in the LFA 53
headliner on Nov. 9, 2018 at Comerica Theatre in Phoenix. Scores
were 50-45, 50-44 and 50-45. After some give and take across the
first five minutes, Kenney sidestepped the standup in favor of his
more trusted skills. He secured takedowns in the second, third,
fourth and fifth rounds, often pairing them with oppressive
control, ground-and-pound and the constant threat of a submission.
Royval refused to give in to his advances but found himself
virtually powerless in a majority of the exchanges, suffering his
first setback in well over a year.
A resurgent Royval captured the vacant Legacy Fighting Alliance
flyweight championship in spectacular fashion when he submitted the
5-foot-1 Williams with an armbar in the first round of their LFA 79
main event on Nov. 22, 2019 at 1stBank Center in Broomfield,
Colorado. A blinding burst of offense was over in less than half a
minute. Royval launched a flying knee and a head kick inside the
first 10 seconds, caught his counterpart in a triangle during a
subsequent exchange and then moved to an omaplata. From there, the
Factory
X export made a smooth transition to the armbar and forced the
tapout. A short-notice replacement for
Jared
Scoggins, Williams never stood a chance. Royval made his
Ultimate Fighting Championship debut some six months later.
“The Assassin Baby” was awarded a technical knockout over Royval in
the first round of their featured UFC 255 prelim on Nov. 21, 2020
at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Royval appeared to suffer a
dislocated shoulder during an intense ground exchange and could not
physically defend himself, resulting in the stoppage 4:59 into
Round 1. Both men had their moments in a brief but frenetic
confrontation. Royval connected with a few standing knee strikes
and a spinning back elbow but conceded a takedown that seemed to
alter the direction of the fight. Moreno eventually jumped to his
back and threatened with a rear-naked choke, his efforts giving way
to the scramble that caused the injury. With Royval clutching his
right arm in agony, a merciless Moreno let loose with the punches
and hammerfists that finished the job.
Royval on Jan. 15, 2022 rebounded from back-to-back losses and took
a step forward in the 125-pound weight class with a contentious
split decision over Bontorin in a three-round UFC on ESPN 32
showcase at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three judges scored it
29-28:
Eric Colon
and
Chris Lee for
Royval, Douglas Crosby for Bontorin. Royval picked his spots on the
feet throughout the 15-minute encounter and nearly submitted the
Gile Ribeiro-trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with an armbar
in the third round. Bontorin, meanwhile, relied heavily on
takedowns, top control and positional advances. Royval made his
move late in Round 3, where the onetime Legacy Fighting Alliance
champion scrambled into top position, clamped down on the Brazilian
and hammered him with elbow-laced ground-and-pound. His efforts
were enough to curry favor on two of the three scorecards and put
him back on the road to contention.