It’s safe to say fans are unlikely to see UFC 317 star Brandon Royval on a preliminary card again.
Among those likely to contribute to UFC 317 going down as one of the year’s most thrilling events is Royval, an entertaining and game flyweight contender who is in pursuit of his second title shot.
Since Royval lost to Alexandre Pantoja in late 2023, ‘Raw Dawg’ has reeled off two straight wins over Brandon Moreno and Tatsuro Taira to keep his name in the title picture.
The 32-year-old is always a must-watch athlete, something that earned him consecutive main events off the back of his championship loss. But that high stature in the promotion is a relatively new thing for Royval.
Brandon Royval flattened Matheus Nicolau with perfectly timed knee at UFC Kansas City
Just one fight before challenging Pantoja, Royval found himself on the prelims of a UFC Fight Night in Kansas City in April 2023.
The Denver native fought fellow top-five contender Matheus Nicolau in what marked a key clash at 125 pounds. The UFC evidently did not view the bout that way.
To the surprise of many, the matchup was buried among lower-profile bouts on the prelims, a decision Royval vowed to prove was an error.
‘Raw Dawg’ did just that – and it took him less than two and a half minutes.
Royval stunned Nicolau with a devastating knee that was perfectly timed. While the Brazilian looked done after that strike, the American got in a number of brutal ground strikes before referee Mike Beltran intervened.
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Dana White admitted making a mistake with Brandon Royval’s card placement
During his post-fight press conference, Royval was quick to point out how early on in the night his finish came, repeating his pre-fight frustration at a top-five flyweight matchup being relegated to the prelims.
When asked about that during his own post-fight press conference, Dana White admitted the promotion’s mistake with the UFC Kansas City bout order.
“He’s not wrong,” White said.
“Listen, we’re really good at what we do, but we f—k up sometimes. We do. I literally said, ‘We f—red this up.’ The kid should’ve opened the show tonight. He’s right.”
The UFC evidently learned from that mistake, with Royval’s sure-fire banger against Joshua Van set to be the final fight before the two championship bouts that headline UFC 317 on June 28.