After a successful three events back to back to back in Jacksonville, Florida the UFC took a week off for Memorial Day weekend. A little unexpectedly, as their May 23 event was shifted to the final weekend of the month. Now, the UFC returns on May 30 this time in the fight capital of Las Vagas, Nevada in the UFC APEX arena. The UFC will host an exciting flyweight bout at this event, in former 125-pound title challenger Tim Elliott taking on newcomer Brandon Royval — the now-former LFA flyweight champ.
Brandon “Raw Dawg” Royval
5’7″
Flyweight
27-years-old
Littleton, Colorado, USA
FactoryX Muay Thai
10-4
3 KO/TKOs
6 Submissions
How will Royval fare in the UFC:
Royval is an excellent grappler with six submissions to his credit. Off his back, in what can be a bad spot for most fighters, is where Royval thrives. He has all his submission wins by triangle and arm-bar, all while off his back. He does have poor takedown defense but as soon as his back hits the mat he goes straight to work. Royval will transition submission to submission locking in a variety of subs like omoplata’s, gogoplata’s, triangles, and arm-bars going through all that effortlessly.
On the feet, he has good leg kicks and quick hands. Defensively though he does take too much damage, holding his hands too low and telegraphing what he throws sometimes. He’s just a wild man on the feet however, always throwing anything that comes to mind. He will throw lunging knees, flying knees, a variety of kicks, spinning back fists, and a spinning elbow he has landed more than once. Being so good off his back, Royval will run into wrestlers who know how to control the action in the UFC. When he lost to Casey Kenney and Nick Urso, they were able to get takedown after takedown and control the position. Under a good team and at only 27 he will grow and develop into a better fighter over time.
How Royval matches up with Elliott:
Elliott has seen it all, being a veteran of the sport and competing against the best flyweights in the world for a while. Both have similar styles striking-wise, throwing wild attacks and taking damage. Royval though is maybe a bit faster and utilizes leg kicks more. Elliott is definitely challenging on the mat as that’s his strength as well. Tim has lost three times by submission but his defense still holds up well. This is a very tough fight as Elliott does have the experience but Royval has the momentum. Royval has the recipe to beat Tim being the faster fighter but I won’t be surprised at all if Elliott turns out to be too much too soon.
