Brandon Royval confirms he was initially set for UFC 290 post-fight face-off

UFC flyweight contender Brandon Royval has confirmed he was set for a UFC 290 face-off until Israel Adesanya’s antics.

Last weekend at UFC 290, Alexandre Pantoja defeated Brandon Moreno to capture the UFC flyweight championship. As it turns out, he was supposed to have a face-off with none other than top contender Brandon Royval after the bout.

RELATED: UFC 290 BACK UP FIGHTER BRANDON ROYVAL BREAKS DOWN BRANDON MORENO VS. ALEXANDRE PANTOJA 2

Unfortunately, that didn’t come to fruition. According to Royval himself, it was due to the actions of Israel Adesanya when he went into the cage after Dricus du Plessis managed to TKO Robert Whittaker.

Royval, 30, is on a three-fight win streak with his only two losses in the UFC coming against Moreno and Pantoja. In a recent interview, he had the following to say on the matter.

Brandon Royval (@brandonroyval) was expecting to have a faceoff with the winner of the flyweight title fight at #UFC290 – until Israel Adesanya stepped in the octagon.

"I'm like 'There's no f-cking way they're letting me in the cage right now. … There goes that.'"

🤣 🤣 🤣 pic.twitter.com/5NA6HZae8F

— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) July 11, 2023

“So I made weight and then I talked to Mick, and I was like, ‘so what do you guys think about bringing me in the cage after the fight?’. They’re like, we’ll do it in the moment just in case, like, anything weird happens. But he goes ‘I really like that idea’, and then I talked to everybody before, and they’re like ‘I really like that idea’.

Royval’s missed opportunity

“So in my eyes, in my opinion, I think I was going to go into the cage until Izzy’s ass walked into the cage.”

“I was like ‘bro, I hope this fool does not f*** this up for me. He goes in there and does what he does, and I thought there’s no f***ing way they’re letting me in the cage right now.”

Would you have liked to see Brandon Royval square off with Alexandre Pantoja? Do you believe he will get the next title shot?