Brandon Royval booked to return against Askar Askarov in October
Brandon Royval will be making the walk to the Octagon in October.
Royval’s management team, Iridium announced on social media that the fifth-ranked flyweight contender is booked to face Askar Askarov on a Fight Night card on October 15. The main event of the card or location has not been formally announced.
Brandon Royval (14-6) extended his win streak to two last time out as he submitted Matt Schnell in the first round back at UFC 274 after edging out a split decision win over Rogerio Bontorin in January of 2021. Prior to that, he was submitted by Alexandre Pantoja and lost by first-round TKO to Brandon Moreno due to his shoulder popping out.
In his UFC career, Royval is 4-2 with his other two wins coming by submission over Tim Elliott and Kai Kara-France. Royval has also spoken about how he dislikes Askarov’s style in the past so it shouldn’t be a surprise to see him get this fight. Before signing with the UFC, Royval fought in LFA.
Askar Askarov (14-1-1) is ranked fourth at flyweight and will be looking to return to the win column when he faces Royval on Oct. 15. Askarov came up short in a flyweight title eliminator bout back at UFC Columbus in March as he dropped a decision to Kai Kara-France.
Before the setback to Kara-France, Askarov was 3-0-1 in the UFC with decision wins over Joseph Benavidez, Alexandre Pantoja, and Tim Elliott while he fought Brandon Moreno to a draw in his promotional debut. The Russian is also the former ACB flyweight champ as he defended it twice before signing with the UFC.
With the addition of Brandon Royval vs. Askar Askarov, the Oct. 15 Fight Night card is as follows:
- Jonathan Martinez vs. Cub Swanson
- Askar Askarov vs. Brandon Royval
- Piera Rodriguez vs. Sam Hughes
- CJ Vergara vs. Tatsuro Taira
