Brandon Royval is well aware of what’s at stake on Nov. 21.
Royval (12-4 MMA, 2-0 UFC) faces Brandon Moreno at UFC 255 in a matchup that he knows could propel him toward a shot at the flyweight title.
With only two UFC fights under his belt, Royval is a fairly new face in the division. But, having already notched two bonuses in finishes over Tim Elliott and Kai Kara-France, Royval is looking to leapfrog the other contenders at 125 with a definitive win against Moreno (17-5-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC).
“I don’t know what a win does for me exactly, but I think if I go out there and make a statement then that makes me the title challenger,” Royval told MMA Junkie Radio. “If I go out there and have an exciting fight, I wouldn’t see why they wouldn’t just want to keep just riding my wave and stay with me and try and get that title shot, (that) would be great. But I get that I’d have to go out there and make a statement against Brandon Moreno. I get that I’ve only been in the UFC at this point five months, so I get that. I need to actually do something and go out there and make a statement to earn that spot out there.”
It’s been a fast rise for surging contender Royval, who’s only been on the UFC roster for five months. He credits the matchmaking for his recent success and thinks that the fight with Moreno will bring the best out of him too.
“There’s matchups right here that I think benefit me, and I think that goes all the way to the top three and that kind of benefits me well,” he explained. “I think a bad matchup for me is Tim Elliott, for sure, and you could see a little bit of that in that fight. He’s just a guy who put the muscle on me a little bit and just made me make it a boring fight. But Tim Elliott doesn’t have that boring fight style in him at all so that’s why I was able to do what I was able to do.
“I think that’s what’s contributing to these fights in the UFC is that the UFC is having exciting fighters. They want excitement that pushes the pace and that, and I think anyone who’s trying to kill me or take my head off is more beneficial to my fighting style because it leaves openings and it leaves a lot of chances that I can take and I can gamble in comparison to fighting some dude who doesn’t take too much risk.”
UFC 255 takes place Saturday, Nov. 21 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The event streams live on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN+.
