Brandon Royval was the underdog Saturday night. Neither in the betting odds nor in the eyes of the fans present in the building.
On the other side of the cage was Brandon Moreno, the first Mexican-born UFC champion who had yet to win a UFC fight in his home country. With those cards stacked against him, Royval rose to the occasion, rallying from an early deficit to beat Moreno via split decision (48-47, 46-49, 48-47) in the UFC flyweight main event Mexico City.
The fight was very close and when the scorecards were read, the sold out crowd fell silent. Royval, however, had achieved the biggest victory of his career in front of fans with whom he felt kinship.
“I'm a third-generation Mexican,” Royval said in his post-fight interview. “I know that doesn't count, but the only reason I got through this sh… is because I have that Mexican heart like all of you… I love you. I love Mexico. Hey, I'm one of you as much as I can. The “The best part of me is you.”
Coming into it, ESPN had Moreno ranked as the No. 2 flyweight in the world, with Royval at No. 7. Moreno entered as the biggest career favorite, with odds of -310, according to ESPN Bet.
Judge Mike Bell had Royval win the second, third and fourth rounds. Judge Chris Lee had Royval win first, second and fourth. Judge Junichiro Kamijo, the only dissenter, had Moreno win the first, second, third and fifth rounds.
Moreno looked good from the start, landing big right hands in the first and second rounds. Royval appeared to injure his left leg landing a kick in the first round, but he continued to land it to solid effect. In the middle rounds, Royval got into a good rhythm with combinations of punches from the southpaw position, as well as knees and strong body kicks.
“I'm a fucking gangster,” Royval said. “I'm the realest in this damn flyweight division.”
Royval called out UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja, who was present, for a rematch and told him, “Let's run that s— back.”
“I go to people's houses and bring their shit,” Royval said.
Moreno's original opponent was Amir Albazi, who withdrew last month due to a serious neck injury that required surgery. Moreno had beaten Royval once before, by first-round TKO in November 2020.
Royval (16-7) fell to Pantoja via unanimous decision on December 16 at UFC 296. Before that, the Colorado native had won three straight. Royval, 31, has lost to only two men in the UFC: Moreno and Pantoja (twice).
Moreno (21-8-2), a two-time former champion, has lost two straight, his first losing streak in five years. The Tijuana-born fighter lost the flyweight title to Pantoja last July at UFC 290.
Moreno, 30, is now 0-2 (1 NC) in Mexico. This was his first non-title fight since the 2020 showdown against Royval.
