What’s next for Brandon Royval after submission victory at UFC 274?
Brandon ‘Raw Dawg’ Royval has very quickly become one of the most exciting fighters to watch in the entire sport of mixed martial arts.
Coming over to the UFC with a record of 10-4 as the LFA flyweight champion, Royval started out by submitting (arm-triangle choke) former title challenger, The Ultimate Fighter 24 winner, and former Titan FC flyweight champion Tim Elliott in the second round of their back-and-forth scramble-fest.
Royval followed this up with another second-round submission (guillotine choke), this one over Kai Kara-France, who’s since won his last three-straight, and who’s currently ranked at no. 2 in the UFC flyweight division.
Following these two stunning victories however, he’d be set back in his next two outings against former UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno (TKO – injury) and Alexandre Pantoja (rear-naked choke), just the first, and second times he was finished.
Since then, however, Royval rebounded with a win over Rogerio Bontorin (SD) in a very close fight; he locked up a beautiful armbar from his guard in the third round, and many believe they saw his BJJ black belt opponent tap. But, the referee didn’t see it, and they went to the cards with Royval the victor.
Royval just followed this up with a first round submission (guillotine choke) victory over Matt Schnell this past weekend at UFC 274. Schnell hurt and dropped him with a nasty overhand right, before Royval locks up the choke to secure the finish about a minute later, improving his record to 14-6 in the process (4-2 UFC).
He’s really as crafty as they come on the mat, and his striking is just as fearless as it gets and fun to watch.
Who do we want to see ‘Raw Dawg’ in there with next?
Well, he has a win, and finish over the next man that’ll be fighting for the belt. That puts him in a great position.
A match up opposing no. 3 ranked Askar Askarov (14-1-1) would be nice to see, given Kara-France just defeated him, and Royval’s the last man to defeat Kara-France. But, Askarov is now matched up with former title challenger Alex Perez in July.
Former Rizin bantamweight champion Manel Kape (17-6) would also be an incredibly exciting fight to see, though Kape is matched up with Rogerio Bontorin himself for a June showdown.
Aside from fighting down the rankings, where he could face Matheus Nicolau (18-2-1), who’s gone 3-0 since his return to the promotion, there are two names left that do not have a fight signed right now.
A rematch with Alexandre Pantoja (24-5) could happen, or even a rematch with former champion Brandon Moreno (19-6-2). Both of these are compelling options after his newly claimed two-fight win streak.
Who would you like to see Brandon Royval face next?
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