Alexandre Pantoja will face Brandon Royval in a potential flyweight title eliminator.
The flyweight bout is set to to take place on the 21st of August on a UFC Fight Night card. The location and venue is unknown at this current time. MMA Junkie was the first to report the news.
Pantoja and Royval, ranked #3 and #6 respectively, will both be looking towards a potential title shot next if they were to get a victory in this explosive matchup between these two highly skilled flyweights.
Alexandre Pantoja (23-5)
Pantoja was last seen in action against the highly touted Manel Kape back in February where the Brazilian was able to shut down the hype with a unanimous decision over the former RIZIN bantamweight champion.
Prior to his most recent win, “The Cannibal” was coming off a unanimous decision loss against Askar Askarov back in July 2020 where he was defeated soundly by the Russian.
After joining the UFC promotion in 2017, Pantoja holds wins over the likes of recent title challenger Brandon Moreno, Ulka Sasaki, Wilson Reis and Matt Schnell. He has compiled a record of 7-3 with his only losses coming to Dustin Ortiz, current flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo and Askar Askarov. His longest win streak in the UFC is three. Prior to joining the UFC, the Brazilian was a AXS TV Flyweight champion in 2015.
It seems when Pantoja seems to be gaining some momentum, he falls short with a loss but hopefully all that will change in his upcoming fight. Ranked at #3, a win over Royval will almost guarantee him a shot at the UFC flyweight belt as he looks to continue his winning ways.
Brandon Royval (12-5)
Royval is coming off a TKO loss to recent title challenger Brandon Moreno. A win in his last fight would have secured him a title shot at Figueiredo however he now finds himself another great opportunity to right that loss and gain another a title shot with a win against Pantoja.
After bursting into the UFC last year, Royval earned himself a win over Tim Elliot by second round arm-triangle choke in his UFC debut back in May 2020. He quickly followed up the win four months later, with a finish over the highly touted Kai Kara-France from City Kickboxing by guillotine choke in the second round.
With two wins on the trot, Royval fell short in a title eliminator bout against Moreno. During the bout, Royval suffered a dislocated shoulder injury which ultimately led to a TKO win for Moreno.
Royval earned his UFC contract after he won the LFA flyweight championship in November 2019 when he defeated Nate Williams by first round armbar submission.
Fight Card
The current UFC Fight Night lineup for Aug. 21 includes:
- Fabio Cherant vs. William Knight
- Austin Hubbard vs. Vinc Pichel
- Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval
Who do you have winning this matchup?
