Next fight for Brandon Royval — Matchmaker Monday
After a fantastic fight, Brandon Royval is easily becoming undeniable for another title shot. While he is down 0-2 against current champion Alexandre Pantoja, the case for a Royval rematch is becoming the only scenario going into the future. But, he may want another fight just for activity sake.
So what is next for Royval? Title shot? Number one contender bout? Let’s speculate!
The title shot
Currently Alexandre Pantoja is set to face Kai Asakura, a promotional newcomer, at UFC 310. Royval will almost certainly weigh in as backup to that fight. But let’s assume those two both make it to the fight and Royval is not getting the shot that way.
Nobody deserves the shot at the title than Brandon Royval right now. If he didn’t drop two fights to Pantoja already, the last being a title fight, he would almost certainly get it. But for now, he will have to wait. Maybe Asakura wins which would make Royval the clear next shot. But it Pantoja wins, he could opt to get an actual win over Kai Kara-France instead of his win on The Ultimate Fighter, one that doesn’t go on his record.
Waiting is always risky. But it does pay off sometimes. Leon Edwards and Colby Covington notably did just that. And Royval’s case for a title shot is much more deserving than those two’s case at the time.
Brandon Royval vs. Steve Erceg
Steve Erceg is the second option for Brandon Royval to flesh out. Erceg took on Pantoja and lost a very close and tough fight at UFC 301. A former title contender himself, a bout between Royval and Erceg would be fireworks.
The only catch: Steve Erceg also lost to Kai Kara-France which is his most recent outing. It was a spectacular knockout in round one. Should Royval take this fight, he will be hard to out do that and he could see Kara-France leap frog him based on that and The Ultimate Fighter rematch alone.
That being the case, there’s one way to settle things…
Kai Kara-France 2: A chaotic rematch
It seems that Kai Kara-France is the foil to all of Brandon Royval’s plans at a title shot. There’s one way to fix this issue: beat Kai Kara-France.
The two shared the cage in 2020, an age ago. But that fight was insanely chaotic. In the end, Royval jumped on a guillotine and choked Kara-France out to get the win. But four years is a lot of time and Kara-France has built a fantastic resume. While he’s lost the important fights to Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi, he’s won when it matters too.
If Kara-France keeps getting in the way of Royval’s title shot, it is logical to think the two should face off. Royval will strive to become undeniable. Then, he will earn another shot.
