Brandon Royval believes UFC Kansas City prelims win earns him a backup slot for flyweight title fight
Brandon Royval took on Matheus Nicolau at the UFC Kansas City prelims on Saturday night. Despite featuring the number 4 and 5 ranked flyweight contenders, the matchup surprisingly managed to secure only a prelims spot.
After carefully measuring each other up, Royval dropped Nicolau with a straight knee and followed it up with a lethal barrage of punches, forcing the referee to step in at 02:09 of the opening frame.
@brandonroyval gets the TKO finish at UFC Kansas against Matheus Nicolau #realfighter #mma #realshit #mma
https://t.co/6JXYrCfxK8
'Raw Dawg' called for the title shot next and expects to be the backup for the upcoming UFC 290 title clash between Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja. The 30-year-old said during a post-fight media scrum:
"Yeah, I'm gonna be the backup in July. I think that's already been discussed. Dana White said it himself, he said this is a title eliminator. They wanted statements to be made. I told Mick Maynard, 'Yo, sign Matheus Nicolau', cause they weren't gonna sign him. I said, 'Sign Matheus Nicolau and I'll put him away. I'll make an exciting fight, there's no way this is gonna be a boring fight, I promise you. And I'll put him away.' And that's exactly what I did."
While Brandon Royval vs. Matheus Nicolau failed to make it to the main card, Dana White did acknowledge the matchup as an essential title eliminator. White said leading up to UFC Kansas City:
"The always entertaining Brandon Royval returns in what is arguably a number 1 contender eliminator for the flyweight title."
Fans empathize with Brandon Royval for UFC Kansas City main card snub
Fans rallied for Brandon Royval vs. Matheus Nicolau to be promoted to the UFC Kansas City main card even after the matchup was initially announced. Despite unanimous efforts from MMA Twitter and Dana White acknowledging it as a number 1 contender fight, the matchup did not make it to the main card.
Fans and pundits have yet again questioned the placement of the matchup after Royval's spectacular showing at UFC Kansas City on Saturday night. According to Shakiel Mahjouri of CBS Sports, the UFC probably prefers heavyweight slugfests on the main card. He wrote:
"Because it's at the whim of the matchmakers. My gut reaction is they favor light-heavy/heavyweight slugfests over flyweights, much to my disappointment. Royval has won Fight of the Night in 50% of his UFC fights and probably just notched himself a Performance bonus"
Brandon Royval is a bad motherf--ker! He was miffed by his placement on this card and proved why he should be on the #UFCKansasCity main card! Book him vs. the winner of Brandon Moreno vs. Alexandre Pantoja. He has a bone to pick with them both twitter.com/FireMMAVid/sta…
@PaulDuckett Because it's at the whim of the matchmakers. My gut reaction is they favor light-heavy/heavyweight slugfests over flyweights, much to my disappointment. Royval has won Fight of the Night in 50% of his UFC fights and probably just notched himself a Performance bonus
Catch more reactions below:
How is Brandon Royval on the prelims?! That guy deserves to be on the main card always. #UFCKansasCity
Welp, @Psychoward586 called that one!
I clearly follow a lot of sharp folks - because a ton of you were on the Brandon Royval train this week.
Also, put these dudes on the main card where they belong. twitter.com/DannStupp/stat…
MMA Twitter gripes about the placement of a fight on a UFC card gets redundant at times. But if Brandon Royval vs Matheus Nicolau was a title eliminator? It definitely deserved to be on the main card over *checks notes* Dustin Jacoby vs Azamat Murzakanov. #UFCKansasCity
@MMAFighting There’s no reason an Ion Cutelaba fight should be on the main card over Brandon Royval vs Nicolau