UFC 296: Dana White confirms flyweight title bout between Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval

Alexandre Pantoja crowned himself as the UFC flyweight champion after defeating Brandon Moreno at UFC 290. Now the current UFC flyweight champion will look to defend his title for the first time at the much-awaited UFC 296.

Dana White announced the main event and the co-main event last night, with a rematch between Pantoja and Royval as the co-main event, and Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington as the main event. Royval lost to Pantoja back in 2021 with a submission and now has the chance to avenge his loss and potentially win the flyweight title.

Alexandre Pantoja vs Brandon Royval bout preview

Dana White in a recent video revealed the main event and the co main event of both UFC 295 as well as UFC 296. UFC 296 will be headlined by Leon Edwards vs Colby Covington and Alexandre Pantoja will go against Brandon Royval to defend his title in the co main event.

Alexandre Pantoja’s first title defense

Alexandre Pantoja became the UFC fly weight champion back in July by defeating Brandon Moreno. It was a battle for the ages as Pantoja and Moreno unleashed hell on each other for five rounds. When the fight was over, the scorecards could have easily gone either way, as reflected by the judges. Two officials gave Pantoja the fight with a pair of 48-47 scores, while the third official scored it 49-46 for Moreno

However, that was still enough for Pantoja to get the win as he wrapped the UFC featherweight title around his waist for the first time. The current UFC fly weight champion will be defending his title for the first time against Brandon Royval at the UFC 296’s co main event.

Tell us in the comments your thoughts on the bout between Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval, who do you think will emerge victor? Will Royval avenge his loss to Pantoja back in 2021?