In the battle of two Brandons, Royval’s confidence grew and he exacted revenge against former UFC flyweight champion Moreno, utilising volume and sharper head movement during their furious stand-up exchanges to silence the Mexico City crowd. He returns to winning ways just three months after losing an Alexandre Pantoja rematch for 125lbs championship gold before Christmas.
Royval’s relentlessness pays dividends
48-47, 46-49, 48-47: Royval [3] bt. Moreno [1] via split decision
- Royval’s post-fight interview after producing an upset in enemy territory: “Everyone wants to grab me, let’s run it back [with Pantoja]. I’m coming to people’s houses and taking their shit.”
- Bad fortune or a gradual decline? 30-year-old former titlist Moreno suffers a second consecutive defeat via split decision over five rounds, having lost championship gold against familar face Pantoja at UFC 290 last July
- Title eliminator? #2 ranked Amir Albazi, originally set to headline this main event opportunity against Moreno, isn’t expected back until late summer at the earliest after successful neck surgery earlier this month
FORTUNE favours the brave and Brandon Royval was rewarded for his sustained activity during stand-up exchanges against a former champion overwhelmed in the latter rounds – the Assassin Baby uncharacteristically second best by comparison.
The first-round featured a measured start from both, having competed against one another three years earlier. Royval detailed his injuries – a torn labrum – going into that bout and spoke prior about wanting to be more deliberate with his approach in future, albeit one he couldn’t truly curb as an all-action fighter.
Nonetheless, Moreno landed the harder strikes through five minutes so it was important Royval didn’t allow him to run up a convincing lead.
The 31-year-old did well to threaten a triangle choke briefly in the dying embers after a scramble, during another stanza where he’d been caught by single overhands.
His left leg and knee were clearly bothering him at this stage, being iced in-between rounds, but the third saw him regain confidence in his weapons as he landed more attacks after an accidental low blow forced a temporary pause in the action.
A spinning elbow narrowly missed Moreno’s head as they clinched and that high-risk decision almost got Royval into grave danger, though he did well to fight out of it against the cage and continue what was working: throwing punches in bunches.
Kick the leg and throw more combos, was the call from Moreno’s corner as they exchanged furiously to start the fourth. Moreno was lighting up Royval’s legs with low kicks but Raw Dawg was undeterred, responding by picking up the pace and stringing together better combinations, ignoring those kicks to unload attacks.
Moreno’s head coach Sayif Saud didn’t mince words before the final stanza, saying: “We need this round, you understand? You’ve got the cardio so push it, you’re blocking most of it but got to be more active, put a stamp on it. You want your belt back?”
While he was whipping single strikes with venom and largely missing the target, Royval benefited from referee Herb Dean’s timely interventions to stop them stalling against the fence because it allowed more opportunities to attack in open space.
His pit-pat punches and sustained pressure directly contradicted Moreno shelling up to block, allowing him the onus to push forward and throw more haymakers before a final minute sequence where they both threw caution to the wind, finishing strong.
Royval was a deserved victor here, but that might have more to do with Moreno’s defensive deficiencies rather than him suddenly earning championship mettle overnight. In a division without a clear #1 contender, it’d be interesting to see him rematch Kai Kara-France – many felt he deserved the nod over Amir Albazi last June.
Ortega subs Rodriguez after injury scare
R3, 0:58 – Brian Ortega [4] bt. Yair Rodriguez [3] via sub (arm-triangle choke)
Brian Ortega recovered from a shaky first-round, which saw him knocked down and almost finished, to produce a submission win over former interim champion Yair Rodriguez in their rematch – 19 months after the first fight ended in an anticlimax.
When you have the black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills he possesses, you’re always going to have a decent chance of turning a fight on its head – just ask Alexander Volkanovski – but this was dramatic, even by Ortega’s standards.
He rolled his right ankle after jumping and landing awkwardly during the fighter introductions in the cage, shot a concerned look at his corner while they would’ve been feeling a similar emotion of dread after witnessing the first-round unfold.
Ortega on his back, outgunned and absorbing 45 significant strikes – almost double his total amount (28) in a pick ’em fight given the high stakes involved for both after Ilia Topuria gave the 145lb division a much-welcome jolt last weekend.
Ortega fared far better in the second, landing half of his significant strikes (22 of 44) and logged almost four minutes’ control time as Rodriguez couldn’t sustain the big success he previously enjoyed, which only set up a sudden third-round finish.
T-City shifted positions on the canvas and got El Pantera into side control after securing his third takedown of the fight, squeezing on a choke with the required angle to maximise effectiveness. Within seconds came the tap, and it was all over.
He spoke emotionally post-fight after another long layoff, having undergone four surgeries before being medically cleared to return. While his next fight shouldn’t be Topuria’s first title defence, this tweet nicely sets up a summer showdown:
The rest of the card’s results in full
Main card
Lightweight: Daniel Zellhuber bt. Francisco Prado via UD3 (29-28 x 2, 30-27)
Women’s strawweight: Yazmin Jauregui bt. Sam Hughes via UD3 (30-27 x 3)
Lightweight: Manuel Torres bt. Chris Duncan via R1 sub (rear-naked choke, 1:46)
Prelims
Bantamweight: Raoni Barcelos bt. Cristian Quinonez via R3 sub (RNC, 2:04)
Flyweight: Jesus Santos Aguilar bt. Mateus Mendonca via SD3 (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
Catchweight (131lbs): Edgar Chairez bt. Daniel Lacerda via R1 sub (triangle, 2:17)
Lightweight: Fares Ziam bt. Claudio Puelles via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Flyweight: Ronaldo Rodriguez bt. Denys Bondar via R2 sub (rear-naked choke, 4:59)
Flyweight: Felipe dos Santos bt. Victor Altamirano via split decision (27-30, 29-28 x 2)
Featherweight: Muhammad Naimov bt. Erik Silva via R1 TKO (leg injury, 0:44)
Bantamweight: Raul Rosas Jr (illness) vs. Ricky Turcios cancelled, set for next week
Up next: UFC Fight Night next weekend, headlined by heavyweight matchup between Jairzinho Rozenstruik [12] and 12-0 pro Shamil Gaziev with
Picture source: Getty Images, numbers via ufcstats.com
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