MEXICO CITY – Brandon Royval appreciates the opportunity in front of him, as a win in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 237 main event would shift his career into a more positive light.
After getting dominated by flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja in their UFC 296 title fight in December, Royval (15-7 MMA, 5-3 UFC) admits he was dealing with a bit of a post-loss hangover. He felt somewhat directionless, but then the phone rang, and he was offered the position of a backup for Saturday’s headliner, which was originally set as Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi.
“I’m sitting at home, this is three weeks after the Pantoja fight, maybe four weeks after the Pantoja fight,” Royval told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 237 media day. “The holidays happened. I’m a little fat. I get a call and they’re like, ‘Do you want to be the backup fighter?’ I’m like, ‘There’s no way somebody is going to pull out oft that fight. Free vacation to Mexico City? For sure I want that.’ I took the fight.”
