Brandon
Royval now has a signature victory to which he can point in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division.
Rapid-fire combinations and sheer volume carried the Factory X
export to a split decision over two-time champion Brandon
Moreno, as their rematch headlined
UFC Fight Night 237 on Saturday at Arena CDMX on Saturday in
Mexico City. Judge Junichiro Kamijo saw it 49-46 for Moreno, while
Michael Bell and Chris Lee scored it 48-47 for Royval.
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A tepid first round gave way to a series of momentum shifts over
the ensuing 20 minutes. Moreno (21-8-2, 9-5-2 UFC) connected with
the more impactful blows—he punctuated many of his combinations
with thudding leg kicks—but too often settled for one shot at a
time. A short-notice substitution for Amir Albazi,
Royval (16-7, 6-3 UFC) slowly but surely made his case, throwing
three, four and sometimes five punches at a time. More often than
not, he kept Moreno at bay with a pesky jab and multiple strikes
behind hit. Moreno engaged the ex-Legacy Fighting Alliance champion
in the clinch in the fifth round but failed to stay active enough
to avoid restarts from referee Herb Dean. With that, his undoing
was complete.
Royval, who evened his head-to-head series with “The Assassin Baby”
at 1-1, has won four of his last five fights.
Meanwhile, former Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion Brian
Ortega put away “The Ultimate Fighter Latin America” Season 1
winner Yair
Rodriguez with an arm-triangle choke in the third round of
their featherweight co-main event rematch. In his first appearance
since a shoulder injury resulted in a technical knockout loss to
“El Pantera” at UFC on ABC in July 2022,
Ortega (16-3, 8-3 UFC) slammed the door 58 seconds into Round
3.
Rodriguez (19-5, 10-4 UFC) nearly finished it on multiple occasions
in the first round, where he sat down the Rener Gracie protégé with
a left hook, followed up with punches and assaulted him with
ferocious ground-and-pound. Ortega withstood the attack and even
managed to mount his counterpart near the end of the period. He
further turned the tide in his favor in Round 2, where he executed
a takedown and opened a cut under Rodriguez’s right eye with an
elbow strike from the top. Ortega never again took his foot off the
gas. He bulled his way into the clinch in the third round, secured
a trip takedown, climbed to mount and framed the arm-triangle
choke. For Rodriguez, there was no escape.
The submission was Ortega’s first since he dispatched Cub Swanson
with a guillotine choke at UFC Fight Night 123 on Dec. 9, 2017.
Further down the card, Xtreme Couture’s Daniel
Zellhuber outstruck former Samurai Fight House champion
Francisco
Prado to a unanimous verdict in their three-round lightweight
attraction. Zellhuber (15-1, 3-1 UFC) swept the scorecards with
29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 marks from the cageside judges.
Prado (12-2, 1-2 UFC) crashed forward with hooks from both hands
and heavy leg kicks in the first round but could not consistently
navigate the eight-inch reach disadvantage with which he was
presented. Zellhuber turned to his jab in the middle stanza,
resulting in significant damage to his adversary’s nose and right
eye. By the start of Round 3, vision had become an issue for Prado.
Zellhuber continued to mark his territory with the jab, all while
mixing in a front kick to the face, a few check hooks and an
uppercut that nearly lifted the 21-year-old Argentinian off his
feet.
Zellhuber, 24, has rattled off three straight victories.
Elsewhere, Entram Gym prospect Yazmin
Jauregui rebounded from a 20-second technical knockout loss to
Denise
Gomes at UFC 290 in July with a one-sided unanimous decision
over Sam
Hughes in a three-round women’s strawweight feature. All three
members of the cageside judiciary struck 30-27 scorecards for
Jauregui (11-1, 3-1 UFC).
Hughes (8-6, 3-5 UFC) was simply outgunned. Jauregui blasted the
Fortis MMA rep with crisp combinations, a persistent jab and
effective leg kicks. All the while, airtight takedown defense kept
her upright and added to Hughes’ frustration. Jauregui circled on
the outside, found the mark with two-, three- and four-punch
combinations and piled up points as time ticked way. A cut across
the bridge of Hughes’ provided the physical evidence of her
opponent’s dominance.
The 31-year-old Hughes has lost two of her past three bouts.
Finally, explosive Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Manuel
Torres disposed of American Top Team’s Chris
Duncan with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their
lightweight appetizer. Torres (15-2, 3-0 UFC) drew the curtain 1:46
into Round 1, extending his run of consecutive victories to
six.
Duncan (11-2, 2-1 UFC) wobbled “El Loco” with a counter right hand
during their opening exchange but chose to close the distance in
pursuit of a takedown. Torres regained his bearings, threatened
with a guillotine choke and eventually grounded the Scotsman twice.
From there, he progressed to the back, snaked his arms in place for
the choke and let his vice-like squeeze do the
rest.
It was the 14th first-round finish of Torres’ career.
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