
Brandon Royval won’t stop until he gets the gold from flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja — even if it means making a quick turnaround for a fight in May.
Royval made a bounce back after defeating Brandon Moreno in the main event bout of UFC Fight Night 237 this Saturday night. The fighter stepped in as a replacement for Amir Albazi but still managed to outperform the opponent, who was originally expected to challenge Royval next. Yet, with this win, “Raw Dawg” did not just return to the winning column but also joined the title conversation again.
UFC CEO Dana White still hasn’t named the next challenger of Pantoja, who seems to be interested in joining the UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro on May 4. Nonetheless, Royval is already claiming the shot after his win.
“I’m going to keep spoiling parties,” Royval said during the post-fight news conference of UFC Fight Night 237. “At UFC 301, I’m going to fight Pantoja, and I’m going to take his belt in his hometown. We’ll keep spoiling parties. After I win that belt, I’ll defend my belt in Denver, Colorado.”
This will mean a quick turnaround for the contender, and the move might also be questioned by some who would want to see Pantoja with a new challenger. Yet, Royval believes he has already proved this weekend that he has improved and could continue improving in the next two months.
“I’ve made adjustments in six weeks or five weeks, whatever it was,” Royval shared. “It was five weeks because I hurt my hand, and I couldn’t get back into training. I had a five-week training camp for that. In five weeks, I made a bunch of adjustments. I didn’t get held down. Brandon Moreno tried to slow me down, hold me down, slow the pace, keep me down. They ain’t going to hold me down no more, bro.”