LAS VEGAS – Brandon Royval beat Tim Elliott with a second-round submission Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 9 in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Royval, a former LFA flyweight champion who won for the third straight time in his promotional debut.
Result: Brandon Royval def. Tim Elliott via submission (arm triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:18
Updated records: Royval (11-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC), Elliott (15-11-1 MMA, 4-9 UFC)
Key stat: Elliott landed four takedowns and outstruck Royval 40-22, but Royval made the most of his opportunity the final time the fight hit the canvas.
Royval on the fight’s key moment
“I felt a little slow out there, and I felt that was a little bit of my main problem out there. I’m not completely embarrassed with my performance, but I know I can do better than that.”
Royval on disappointment in a submission win
“I was kind of bummed at my performance, honestly. I think I’m an exciting fighter, and I think I can do a lot better than that. I think I can do a lot better than just winning that way. I shouldn’t get taken down like that. I shouldn’t be losing those scrambles. I should be knocking people out and turning heads.”
Royval on what he wants next
“I want to be able to quit my job, first and foremost. I think I’ve been saying it over and over again, but I want to make this my life. I want to be in the gym. I’m in the gym full-time, but I’m there full-time with like three hours of sleep and I’m working these jobs just so that I can make it and pay my mortgage and all this stuff. I want to make MMA my full-time life. I’ve put a lot of work in. I’ve been training since I was 16 years old. I just want to get out of this sport what I put in. I put in a lot of stuff. I put in a lot of love, and I just want to get that out of it.”
To hear more from Royval, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
