Brandon Royval knows the pressure is on him to get back into the win column.
Royval is coming off a submission loss to Alexandre Pantoja back in August which served as his second setback in a row. He had previously suffered a dislocated shoulder in a fight against Brandon Moreno. Although he’s had a hectic start to his UFC career, Brandon admits he wanted a quick turnaround after his last loss.
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“I wanted to get back in there as soon as possible, not wait around,” Royval said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “The last year was funk of having that injury and overcoming it to right back to fighting to then just waiting around again.”
When Royval makes the walk to the Octagon on the main card of UFC Vegas 46, the fifth-ranked flyweight will battle Rogerio Bontorin who’s ranked seventh.
Royval knows the Brazilian is very dangerous, but he believes he has the skillset to nullify that. He also says he has made his own change to his fighting style as Royval will no longer be chasing bonuses, instead, he’s just focused on winning fights.
“What he has done is different. I see a really good skill set in his fights and he can be dangerous, but sometimes he just does some sloppy stuff. I’m expecting to get a great Bontorin as it’s a great opportunity for him to get back to the top of the division,” Royval explained. “I think there has been a lot of holes in my game looking back on my career so far. I’ve exposed myself and I bet he thinks he can capitalize on it… A huge mistake I have been going for is I have strictly been going for the bonuses in my fights and not doing what got me into the UFC which was being smart and more calculated.”
Against Rogerio Bontorin, Brandon Royval believes he is better everywhere and can finish the Brazilian. Yet, he also believes he can piece him up over three rounds to win a decision.
Regardless of how he does it, Royval is confident he will be getting back into the win column in a big way come Saturday night.
“If I do what I need to do, stylistically I’m a nightmare matchup for him,” Royval said. “I can overwhelm him if I want to. I could outgas him, I could put it on him, out volume him and I think I can melt him by the second or third round. But, I also think I can out technique him. Just go in there and not get touched and put on a good performance. Just show what I’ve been working on, I know I’m capable of being a technical fighter.”
If Royval gets his hand raised on Saturday, he says he will be paying close attention to the flyweight title fight between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo 3 at UFC 270. Although he knows he doesn’t deserve a title shot, “Raw Dog” wants the loser where he believes if he gets that fight and wins, that will put him in title contention.
“What I would like and what would be ideal is after a win over Bontorin is to get the loser of the title fight. Just put me right back in the situation,” Royval concluded. “Maybe I do need to show more maturity and fight some of these lower-ranked fighters and get new contracts and learn some things.”
Do you think Brandon Royval will beat Rogerio Bontorin at UFC Vegas 46?