Controversial Faceoff: How Izzy’s Entry Scrapped Brandon Royval’s Chance at Glory

Controversial faceoff between Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis scuppered Brandon Royval’s chance at glory in the flyweight championship co-main event. Find out what happened.

This past weekend, a new king was crowned at flyweight. Just months on from his fourth fight with Deiveson Figueiredo and the start of his second reign, Brandon Moreno put the gold on the line against another familiar foe in Alexandre Pantoja. Like in their previous two fights, "The Cannibal" ultimately had his hand raised. This time, however, that came after a five-round contest that will no doubt be in the discussion for Fight of the Year at the end of 2023.

Cageside for the action was the #4-ranked Brandon Royval, who has staked his claim for an opportunity at the title courtesy of three consecutive victories. "Raw Dawg" looked to secure the shot at UFC 290 by weighing in as the backup fighter. And after successfully hitting the 125-pound championship limit on Friday, Royval was targeting another step towards the chance at glory with an in-cage faceoff with the champ. Unfortunately for him, that didn’t come to fruition. For that, he might have one man to blame…

Middleweight Title Eliminator

Prior to the flyweight championship co-main event, middleweight contenders Robert Whittaker and Dricus Du Plessis collided in a title eliminator. After the South African’s upset victory, he went toe-to-toe with divisional kingpin Israel Adesanya in what was a controversial faceoff. During a recent interview with MMA Underground’s John Morgan, Royval suggested that the Nigerian-New Zealander’s heated entry to the Octagon scrapped his own approved faceoff with the co-main event victor. ‘I made weight and then I talked to Mick (Maynard). I was like, ‘What do you guys think about bringing me in the cage after?’ Royval said. ‘They were like, ‘We’ll do it in the moment, just in case anything weird happens.’ But he goes, ‘I really like that idea.’ Then I talked to everybody before and they’re like, ‘I really like that idea.’ So, in my eyes, I think I was gonna go into the cage until Izzy’s ass walked into the cage. ‘He (Maynard) goes, ‘Dana White’s not a fan of bringing people into the cage because sht doesn’t go right all the time. Sometimes crazy stuff happens.’ Then as soon as Dricus wins, Izzy steps up, walks in the cage, and I was like, ‘Bro, I hope this does not fck this up for me.’ … I was like, ‘There’s no f*cking way they’re letting me in the cage right now,’ Royval continued. ‘Pretty much the moment Izzy walked in the cage, I was like, ‘There goes that.’ I was pretty sure they were gonna let me go in the cage, too.’

While that has perhaps stopped Royval from moving closer to a guarantee regarding the first shot at dethroning Pantoja, it did allow "The Cannibal" to complete a memorable and heartwarming post-fight celebration and interview.