Royval wins battle of the Brandons

Brandon Royval upset home favourite Brandon Moreno with a split decision triumph in the flyweight main event of a UFC Fight Night at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City on the morning of Sunday 25 February 2024.

Both fighters had suffered a defeat at the hands of division champion Alexandre Pantoja in their most recent outings, and needed victory in this clash to get their title hopes back on track.

Moreno, a two-time former champion at flyweight, was the better fighter through the first two rounds, but Royval upped his intensity and accuracy as the match progressed, ultimately doing enough to secure a split decision win via the judges’ scorecards (48-47 46-49 48-47).

“I’m a third-generation Mexican, I know that doesn’t count, but the only reason I get through this is because I’ve got that Mexican heart like you guys,” said Royval in his post-fight interview, with the American tapping into his heritage to win some favour back with the crowd.

Royval went on to call out Pantoja for a rematch: “I’m a f***ing gangster, I’m the realest one in this f***ing flyweight division, everyone wants to grab me all day. Hey, speaking of grabbing, I hear Pantoja’s in the building... let’s run that s**t back motherf***er!”

The rest of the main card saw Brian Ortega submit Yair Rodriguez with an arm-triangle choke in the featherweight division; Daniel Zellhuber outpointed Francisco Prado in a lightweight clash; a women’s strawweight bout had Jazmin Jauregui defeat Sam Hughes via unanimous decision; and Manuel Torres submitted Chris Duncan with a rear-naked choke in the lightweight opener.

The next UFC event is a Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on the morning of Sunday 3 March, headlined by a heavyweight bout between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Shamil Gaziev.

UFC Fight Night: Moreno v Royval 2 – Main card results

- Main event: Flyweight: Brandon Royval def.Brandon Moreno via unanimous decision (48-47 46-49 48-47), R5, 5:00

- Featherweight: Brian Ortega def. Yair Rodriguez via submission (arm-triangle choke), R3, 0:58

- Lightweight: Daniel Zellhuber def. Francisco Prado via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28 30-27), R3, 5:00

- Women’s strawweight: Yazmin Jauregui def. Sam Hughes via unanimous decision (30-27 30-27 30-27), R3, 5:00

- Lightweight: Manuel Torres def. Chris Duncan via submission (rear-naked choke), R1, 1:46