Brandon Royval will finally get his title shot this coming Saturday, as he takes on Alexandre Pantoja in a rematch, in the UFC 296 co-main event.
The 31-year-old is riding a three fight win streak, with his last loss being in the first meeting between the two. Since then, Royval has picked up a decision win and two first round finishes, both of which earned him an additional $50,000.
Despite being at the point he is at now, Royval admitted that he still thinks about the first meeting with Pantoja ‘every day’, and it is a loss that will ‘get to’ him the worst.
“I think about that everyday honestly, I feel like that’s one of the losses that will get to me the worst because I never picture myself ever getting finished, I’ve always pictured myself losing maybe a wrestling match, an actual fire fight, I never thought I was going to be lose those, but it changed my whole style of how I approach fights, how I approach training, all that stuff. Alexandre Pantoja made me such a better fighter, he’s changed my mentality when I go in there.”
Royval also explained why he feels he has changed more as a fighter as opposed to Pantoja, and admitted that the Brazilian is still as ‘sloppy’ as he was, earlier in his career.
“To be 100% honest and I’m preparing for the best Pantoja but if we’re being realistic, I’ve watched Pantoja since the Legacy fights and I feel like he’s thrown some of the same kind of punches, a little bit of sloppiness and all that stuff this whole entire time, and it’s like I feel like if we’re talking about adapting and skill growth in this time period, I’ve grown drastically compared to him.”
Watch the full UFC 296 media day appearance from Brandon Royval above.
