Best fight the best?
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Flyweight title challenger and current No. 3-ranked contender Brandon Royval is two weeks removed from his incredible fight with up-and-coming prospect Lone’er Kavanagh, which ended with Royval scoring a third-round submission win — and a $100,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus — at UFC 329 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was just the latest all-action performance from “Raw Dawg.”
Since entering UFC, Royval has never faced anyone
outside the Top 15 rankings. His Octagon debut came against Tim Elliott, a win that pushed him into the rankings, and he has never left them.
Still, despite being one of the most exciting Flyweights on the roster, it took Royval eight fights inside the promotion before he finally landed a UFC main event.
One would think a fighter who had been ranked since his second UFC appearance and had done nothing but put on exciting fights would get a main event sooner, right?
Well, according to Royval, he got passed over because of his social media following.
“Having followers is such a big deal,” Royval told Ariel Helwani today. “I remember they didn’t book me for a main event and their reasoning was — I think it was Alexa Grasso or whoever they boosted in front of me — they were like, ‘She has way more followers than you.’ Askar Askarov pulled out of the fight so it didn’t matter, but I was pissed.”
Royval was referencing UFC Vegas 62, which was originally supposed to be headlined by Sean Strickland vs. Jared Cannonier. However, that fight was scrapped after Strickland withdrew, and Grasso vs. Viviane Araujo ended up getting promoted to the main event.
Royval was also scheduled to compete on that card against Askarov, but as he mentioned, he was removed from the lineup entirely after Askarov pulled out.
And that was not the only time Royval felt overlooked.
In his next outing, Royval was buried on the prelims at UFC Kansas City despite being the second-highest-ranked fighter on the card. After his incredible knockout win, he shouted, “I should never be on a f—king prelims again.”
UFC CEO Dana White actually agreed with him afterward, admitting that he and the matchmakers “screwed up.”
Royval would go on to fight for the Flyweight title in his next appearance, ultimately losing a lopsided decision. But after that, things started to change.
He has since landed three UFC main events and two spots on major numbered-event main cards.
So, maybe the followers helped.
Royval currently sits at 149,000 followers on Instagram, and after another “Fight of the Night” war at UFC 329, the promotion clearly knows what it has.
A ranked Flyweight contender, a reliable action fighter, and apparently, enough followers to finally get the good slots.
