5 Defining Moments: Brandon Royval

Brandon Royval still has plenty of say about what goes on near the top of the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division.

The Marc Montoya and Clay Matza protégé will kick off his 2025 campaign against former Rizin Fighting Federation champion Manel Kape in the UFC Fight Night 253 headliner on March 1 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Royval, 32, has rattled off five wins across his past six appearances. Buoyed by a 7-3 record in the UFC, he has an eye on another shot at the 125-pound title and the necessary means with which to procure it.

As Royval starts to rev his engines ahead of his forthcoming clash with Kape, a look at a few of the rivalries that have helped shape his career to this point:

1. A Golden Key

Royval captured the vacant Legacy Fighting Alliance flyweight championship in spectacular fashion when he submitted Nate 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 23 seconds into Round 1. A short-notice replacement for Jared Scoggins, Williams never stood a chance. Royval made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut some six months later.

2. Organized Chaos

The opportunistic Royval ditched Kai Kara-France with a guillotine choke in the second round of their UFC 253 flyweight feature on Sept. 26, 2020 at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The end came 48 seconds into Round 2. A frenetic first five minutes saw Royval lurch in front despite being knocked down. He answered with a spinning back elbow that sat down France, then threatened briefly with a gogoplata. Later in the opening stanza, Royval dazed the City Kickboxing rep with a close-range knee strike. Both men needed the one-minute respite between rounds. France shot for an ill-advised takedown inside the first minute of Round 2 and wandered into the guillotine. He struggled to free himself, soon became aware that his situation was hopeless and suffered his first stoppage loss in almost six years.

3. Stumbling Block

Brandon Moreno was awarded a technical knockout over “Raw Dawg” 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 hectic 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. They met again three-plus years later, as Royval exacted a measure of revenge by earning a five-round split decision.

4. Edge of Glory

Repeated takedowns and stifling control carried American Top Team’s Alexandre Pantoja to a unanimous decision in his rematch with Royval, as he retained the undisputed flyweight championship in the UFC 296 co-main event on Dec. 16, 2023 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Scores were 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46. The result boiled down to one cold reality: Royval could not stay upright. Pantoja, who won their first encounter via rear-naked choke submission two years prior, executed takedowns in all five rounds, maintained top position—he often settled in side control—and bled valuable time off the clock. Royval managed to steer clear of the Brazilian’s active submission game but spent too much time pinned to the canvas. The Factory X mainstay excelled in the standup exchanges, especially in the third round and in parts of the fifth, though his inability to stay on the feet proved costly once his 25 minutes were up.

5. Hitting the High Notes

Royval called upon superior standup, bulletproof submission defense and a seemingly endless gas tank to outlast the previously unbeaten Tatsuro Taira to a five-round split decision in the UFC Fight Night 244 headliner on Oct. 12, 2024 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three members of the judiciary struck 48-47 scorecards: Sal D’Amato for Taira, Chris Lee and Ron McCarthy for Royval. Taira was stellar in the grappling exchanges through four rounds, as he advanced to the back on multiple occasions, secured his position with body triangles, applied his ground-and-pound and threatened the neck. Royval answered on the feet, where he connected with surgical combinations and the occasional knee. He had Taira on the proverbial ropes early in the third round, where he sent two-, three- and four-punch volleys crashing into his head. The ex-Shooto champion capitalized on an ill-advised armbar attempt late in the period, transitioned to the back and made a pass at a rear-naked choke. The outcome will still very much in doubt when they entered Round 5. There, Royval carved up his counterpart with punches and used a guillotine choke to roll into mount and eventually scramble to the back. Repeated choke and crank attempts followed until the horn sounded.