Athletes
Confidence Is Not An Issue For Brandon Royval
Former Title Challenger Brandon Royval Is Full Of Confidence Ahead Of A Crucial Matchup With Tatsuro Taira This Saturday
Brandon Royval has seen a lot in the fight game, and he knows more than most about life in the upper reaches of the UFC flyweight division. But what he doesn’t know heading into his Saturday main event against Tatsuro Taira is what it feels like to be 16-0 and closing in on a title fight.
“I lost my second pro fight.,” said Royval, who actually started off his career at 5-3 before getting on a run that led him to the UFC and the top of the weight class. “But I feel like that was a huge relief, honestly. I remember being a little bit like, oh, it's not stressful anymore, but I'm sure he has to deal with a lot of that crap.”
Taira also has to deal with us asking him about that “0” all the time. Beyond that, Royval doesn’t believe Taira’s perfect record will have anything to do with Saturday’s end result.
Get an in-depth look at Saturday's main event
“He's 16-0, which is nice,” said Royval. “It’s a nice record. I'm 16-7, and there's six dudes out there that would very much beat the s**t out of Tatsuro if they ever fought him, in my opinion. I wouldn't count (Brandon) Moreno as a loss still, but other than that, that's six dudes that I think would walk right through Tatsuro for the most part.”
Those may seem like some harsh words, but when you look at Royval’s resume, he’s been in with the champ – Alexandre Pantoja – twice, former champ Brandon Moreno twice, as well as Kai Kara-France, Matt Schnell, Tim Elliott and Matheus Nicolau. Looks like the 32-year-old isn’t the fresh-faced rookie anymore, but a seasoned vet.
Brandon Royval Delivers Sensation KO Win In Kansas City | UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs Allen
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Brandon Royval Delivers Sensation KO Win In Kansas City | UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs Allen
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“I've only been in UFC for like four years, but it feels right,” he said. “I feel like I'm at the top. I'm better than all these guys, I just have a couple things I need to prove along the way and I can feel that.”
So he’s not the grizzled old man taking on the 24-year-old young gun from Okinawa?
“No, I'll outwork all these guys,” Royval said. “I honestly feel like I've been in this sport for a long time, I've trained with many UFC fighters, and I've been outworking all these guys my whole entire life. So I’m not new to any of this stuff and I'm still hungry. I still want this. I'm still learning and still outworking everybody.”
Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Royval vs Taira
Confidence is apparently not an issue for the Denver native, and that’s good, because if you don’t think you can beat everybody in your weight class, why are you even doing this. But, at the same, time, don’t expect Royval to dip from confidence to overconfidence come fight night. The way he sees it, at this level, everybody’s dangerous. He just thinks he’s more dangerous than his peers at 125 pounds.
“I take everybody seriously,” he said. “I just think this is probably the biggest moment in his life, the biggest moment in his career, and he's probably hungrier than ever. I trained with Tatsuro on and off probably the past two-and-a-half, three years, and he already trained hard, but I'm sure he's trained harder than he ever has, and it's easy to get out of bed when you know someone's trying to kill you and preparing for their biggest moment.”
And trying to get that number one spot in the rankings Royval currently holds.
“I’m fully planning on keeping it,” he said, while also making it clear that with a win, he’s asking for a third fight with Pantoja.
“I'm going to call for a rematch, no matter what,” said Royval, who lost a decision to Pantoja last December. “If I get it, it's just going to depend on a few other things, I believe.”
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Royval can’t control that. What he can control is how he performs this weekend and what he does in the future. If that means being the hunted fighting off contenders who want that number one spot, so be it, because he’s hunting them, as well.
“I think there should be a target on my back,” he said. “I got targets on everybody's back, too, so I don't necessarily stress about that at all. I'll beat anybody up in these rankings. I truly believe I'm more skilled than everybody in the division. I think I'm a better striker, I think my jiu-jitsu is good and I've been working super hard on this wrestling defense, so I don't think anybody in the division would be able to hold me down anymore.”
UFC Fight Night: Royval vs Taira took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 12, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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