Brandon Royval knew he was a better striker than Kai Kara-France and wanted to make a point of it in their fight at UFC 253.
Royval was the betting underdog heading into the fight, yet he knew he had the skillset to win as long as could avoid the right hand of Kara-France.
“It is the only thing they said in the camp was to stay away from the right hand and circle right,” Royval said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “The game plan was to throw a lot of head kicks to keep his right hand by his head to block the kick. I threw a kick to the body and he smoked me with it.”
Yet, Royval did not avoid the right hand. He was dropped by it but got back up and landed a spinning elbow that dropped Kara-France. For the former LFA champion, he says that is something he has done before.
“I’ve done that before when I got clipped. I have a highlight reel of back elbows and that came at no better time. I pulled that out of my ass. When I threw that head kick I was like this is money and then I’m on my ass,” Royval explained. “He definitely rocked me with the punch. When I got up I thought I was fine and I fell back down and don’t remember that. Once I landed the elbow I was ready to go again. He landed it flush and I was surprised it didn’t put me out. My jaw did a shift.”
Not only did Royval beat a top contender in Kara-France but he also finished him. So, he hopes his next fight can be a number one contender fight for the belt.
“It was pure domination from me. I didn’t have the power he has but I felt like I was landing way more and was better on the feet,” Brandon Royval said. “To me, it is a big deal to go out there and finish him. Not only finish him, but I also went out there and dropped him twice and made him wrestle which he never does.
“Off a performance like that, I don’t know if I impressed people but I turned some heads. I’m an exciting fighter and made a name for myself,” he later added. “I’m right there for title contention. If I go fight someone like Askarov, Formiga or Benavidez I get a title shot with a win.”
For now, Royval is staying on Fight Island to corner some of his teammates but hopes he can get one more in this year.
“I want to fight in December, one of these top dogs in December. I might as well stay active,” he concluded.
Who do you think should be next for Brandon Royval?