As Brandon Royval prepares to serve as the backup to the UFC 290 co-main event between Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja, he’s already got his sights set on facing the winner.
If there was any argument against Royval as the No. 1 contender in the division, Amir Albazi made it with his win over Kai Kara-France at UFC Vegas 74. That victory came in controversial fashion after some questionable scoring from the judges that night. But Albazi was secure in his performance afterward when calling for a title shot.
If anything, Royval believes Albazi did him a favor with the way that fight with Kara-France played out.
“Who else is next?” Royval questioned when speaking to MMA Fighting. “Amir Albazi didn’t even win his last fight, and I feel like to take his own quote from him, before his fight he says ‘I’m going to make sure everybody knows who deserves the next title shot in the flyweight division.’ He went out there and proved I deserve it.
“He went out there and made no statements, made nothing happen, lost the fight and somehow got gifted the victory, and now he’s right. Your boy deserves that title shot, he proved it, and I appreciate him for that.”
All jokes aside, Royval definitely did his part to earn a title shot after he steamrolled Matheus Nicolau in his previous outing, which served as his third straight win.
Since arriving in the UFC, Royval has made a name for himself as arguably one of the most exciting fighters on the entire roster with only one of seven octagon performances going to a decision. His previous two fights have ended in the first round after he dispatched Nicolau and Matt Schnell by knockout and submission, respectively.
Royval is more than happy to compare his resume next to Albazi, whose undefeated record in the UFC was bolstered by a win over the ranked Kara-France. Add to that, he just wasn’t impressed by Albazi in the fight against Kara-France, especially with a chance to shine under the brightest possible spotlight as the main event.
“Let’s be honest, that fight sucked, too,” Royval said. “You guys have the first flyweight main event in a long time, and it’s like, ya’ll got to deliver. You know if I was the main event of that card, it would have been f****** crazy. It would have been nuts. The UFC wants people like that.
“The UFC wants people who go and finish fights. The UFC wants people to go out there and make statements, and who’s out there doing that more than me right now? Nobody’s out there doing it more than me right now.
“I fought nothing but top 10 fighters since I’ve been in the UFC, making statements all along and I mean who else? Who else is above me? There’s no way Amir Albazi is making more statements than I am and he’s fought one top 10 fighter ever in his career.”
Royval is proud that he’s been defined by his jaw-dropping finishes with the potential to always put on a “Fight of the Night” every time he sets foot in the octagon. That’s part of the reason why he knows putting him in a title fight against either Moreno or Pantoja would be guaranteed fireworks.
“You want to see something special? Tune into any fight I have,” Royval said. “Any fight I have is something crazy. Everybody knows who is the most exciting fighter in the flyweight division. You want to watch an exciting fight? You want to see something crazy? Tune into a ‘Raw Dog’ fight because I deliver every time.
“For good or for bad against my health, I’m delivering a f****** fight and I’m making statements.”
Royval promises the same can’t be said about Albazi, especially after his last fight with Kara-France.
“Tell me anyone wants to see Amir Albazi fight over me?” Royval said. “Nobody.”
As far as possibly facing Albazi in the future, Royval isn’t totally against the idea one day. But it certainly won’t be his next opponent, because he’s laser focused on the title shot after UFC 290.
“Amir Albazi is whatever,” Royval said. “He should be No. 5 or No. 6 in my opinion behind Kai Kara-France. I guess I haven’t been really paying any attention to really wanting to fight him or the eagerness to fight him.
“What I want right now is to fight someone above me and someone’s that actually above me. His ranking is above me, but nobody in the world thinks he’s above me. I don’t necessarily care.”
