Brandon Royval reveals post-fight conversation with Alexandre Pantoja after UFC 310: 'He said you're next'

12/20/2024 06:00 PM

Brandon Royval acknowledged before UFC 310 ever happened that Alexandre Pantoja retaining his title would make his path to another shot at the belt that much more difficult.

Despite his standing in the division with wins over three out of the four fighters currently occupying spots behind him in the UFC's rankings, the 32-year-old flyweight also has two past losses to Pantoja. But earning a third fight shouldn't be impossible, especially considering Royval already took out former champion Brandon Moreno and previously undefeated Tatsuro Taira in his past two outings since falling to Pantoja in a title fight back in 2023.

In fact, Royval got the chance to speak to Pantoja as he exited the cage following a win over Kai Asakura and he says the Brazilian acknowledged him as the rightful challenger next in line.

"They let me go up and talk to him right after the fight," Royval revealed when speaking to MMA Fighting. "That's what they didn't show on camera. Me and him were talking as soon as he went out of the cage, they let me go up there and do that. That's what he said — 'you're next, you deserve the title shot next.' That's what he said and that's the truth.

"I deserve the title shot next. Plain and simple. Will they give it to me? Who the f*ck knows but he knows. He knows what's up. Pantoja is a really good guy. I have a lot of respect … also a lot of envy right now but a lot of respect for that guy."

The post-fight conversation didn't get shown on the broadcast and the conversation about who's next for Pantoja almost immediately shifted to Kai Kara-France and former champion Deiveson Figueiredo, who issued a challenge to the champion following the event.

While Royval understands why he's not the name everybody is mentioning right now due to his history with Pantoja, he doesn't really see Kara-France or Figueiredo as viable contenders who actually have a chance to dethrone the reigning champion.

"In my opinion, Alexandre Pantoja dog walks [Kai Kara-France]," Royval said. "I just don't think Deiveson Figueiredo looked that impressive in any of his last flyweight fights. I think that cut seemed detrimental to him and his very last fight against Moreno, I thought he looked not good at all. Whereas at 135, he looks amazing."

Just to add a little extra fuel to the fire, Royval also holds a submission win over Kara-France so that's another accolade he can rack up to his championship resume.

That said, Royval understands that he's probably not going to be the popular pick to face Pantoja next simply because he's fought and lost against him twice already. The fact that Pantoja acknowledged him as the rightful contender is a great nod in his favor but Royval can't say for certain if that's going to sway the UFC matchmakers or not.

"If we're going purely off merit, I'm the next title challenger," Royval said. "Given the circumstances, I don't know if they're going to go with me and then Kai Kara-France comes into question. But if you're talking about the top three of the division that's not Alexandre Pantoja, it's me, Brandon Moreno and then Kai Kara-France. Not only did Kai Kara-France lose to Brandon Moreno and myself, but he also got finished by Brandon Moreno and myself. That's not the circumstances and the case that we're talking about. If we're going off merit, I would have got back-to-back title shots but we're not going off merit.

"I'm the No. 1 contender. Anybody else that's somewhat in question, I've already beat. You can say these names but I f*cking beat them already. What are you going to do with my sloppy seconds? I'm just playing but this is just a bitter waiting moment for me. I hate waiting. I hate not being able to make things happen. I'm a control freak as it is.

If he's not getting the title shot, Royval promises he's ready to travel the Max Holloway route where he'll take out anybody and everybody to get back to another shot at gold just like the former featherweight champion did to earn a third fight against Alexander Volkanovski after falling to him twice in the past.

"Whoever the UFC gives me or throws in front of me that says 'this will get me to the title,' I'm going for it," Royval said. "I'm taking everybody out. If that's the way it's got to be, then so be it. I'll clear the division before I'm a champion."

As much as Royval wants the title shot, he's not opposed to new challenges if those come available so he's keeping an eye on past champions suddenly interested in returning to flyweight.

"Now we've got that with 135'ers mentioning [flyweights]," Royval said. "You see that with 'Triple C' [Henry Cejudo] and you see that with Figueiredo and that's where I want to enter myself. If we're going to have 135'ers dropping down such as Henry Cejudo and Figgy drop down, that's where I'd like to insert myself.

"I think Figueiredo, if he looks any type of way that he looked like in the flyweight division, he's going to have a f*cking horrible night against me. But he's been looking like a world beater at 135 and at 135, he's done great. If he comes down to 125 and he looks the way that he looked like in his fight, I'm going to f*cking have a highlight reel on him."