Former UFC flyweight title challenger Brandon Royval took his short-notice assignment at UFC Mexico with both hands to immediately thrust himself back into the championship picture.
Royval, who lost to Moreno via first-round TKO in their first meeting at UFC 255 in 2020, edged former undisputed flyweight champion Brandon Moreno in the main event at Arena CDMX in Mexico City to improve his record to 16-7 and put himself front and centre for a title rematch with reigning champion, and former nemesis, Alexandre Pantoja.
Moreno started the better of the pair, while Royval needed constant attention on his left knee between rounds. But despite that niggle, and his opponent’s fast start, Royval grew into the bout and brought his boxing skills to the fore to leave the fight on a knife edge heading into the fifth and final round.
The action was fast and furious through the final five minutes, but it was Royval who was adjudged to have done enough in the eyes of two of the three Octagonside judges, who scored the bout 48-47, 46-49, 48-47 in the American’s favour.
The Mexican crowd were less than impressed with the final verdict, but Royval hailed his own Mexican heritage for the fighting spirit that helped take him to victory.
In the co-main event, Brian Ortega upset the applecart by finishing Mexican superstar Yair Rodriguez via third-round submission to push his title claims at 145 pounds.
Rodriguez had already stoked the fires of a potential title clash with newly-crowned featherweight champion Ilia Topuria with some fiery words about the Spaniard during fight week.
But that narrative was cut abruptly short by Ortega, who locked up an arm-triangle choke early in the third round to ensure that it was he, and not Rodriguez, who would be further ahead in the queue for a possible shot at Topuria later this year.
Ortega’s night almost turned to disaster before it had even begun as he appeared to roll his ankle during the pre-fight introductions. And things seemed to go from bad to worse for “T-City” as Rodriguez started fast and clipped the Californian on multiple occasions during the opening round.
But despite his less-than-ideal start, Ortega rallied and, after a solid second round, found the finish early in the third, courtesy of the eighth submission finish of his career.
UFC Mexico: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Brandon Royval def. Brandon Moreno via split decision (48-47, 46-49, 48-47)
- Brian Ortega def. Yair Rodriguez via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 0:58
- Daniel Zellhuber def. Francisco Prado via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-26)
- Yazmin Jauregui def. Sam Hughes via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Manuel Torres def. Chris Duncan via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:46
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Raoni Barcelos def. Christian Quinonez via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:04
- Jesus Aguilar def. Mateus Mendonca via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Edgar Chairez def. Daniel Lacerda via submission ( triangle choke) – Round 1, 2:17
- Fares Ziam def. Claudio Puelles via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
- Luis Rodriguez def. Denys Bondar via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:59
- Felipe dos Santos def. Victor Altamirano via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
- Muhammad Naimov def. Erik Silva via TKO (injury) – Round 1, 0:44
