A pair of top 10 UFC flyweights will collide in August, with a chance to put themselves into title contention.
MMA Junkie was first to report the news that No. 3 ranked flyweight Alexandre Pantoja will fight No. 6 Brandon Royval on August 21 at a yet-to-be-announced UFC event. Multiple sources subsequently confirmed news of the booking.
Pantoja (23-5) rebounded from his unanimous decision loss to Askar Askarov, which occurred last year on ‘Fight Island’ earlier this year in February. The Brazilian spoiled UFC newcomer Manel Kape’s UFC debut by defeating him via unanimous decision. Before his loss to Askarov, he was award Performance of the Night for a stunning knockout over Matt Schnell.
Royval (12-5) had a breakout rookie year in 2020. He burst onto the scene with an arm-triangle choke victory over former title challenger Tim Elliot, earning him Fight of the Night. “Raw Dawg” would follow that performance up with another Fight of the Night performance of Kai-Kara France, where he would submit him as well. He tried to go 3-0 in 2020 but unfortunately got defeated by Brandon Moreno via TKO when his shoulder dislocated. Recovered by shoulder surgery, Royval will look to take his opponent No. 3 ranking and insert himself into the title picture, yet again.
No location, venue, or broadcast details have yet to be announced by the promotion for UFC’s August 21 event. No main event has been announced yet.
So far, the August 21 fight card looks like this:
- Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval
- Fabio Cherant vs. William Knight
- Austin Hubbard vs. Vic Pichel
- Chase Sherman vs. Parker Porter
