Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. Two top-10 Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweights will
battle it out this May. On Thursday, Brandon
Royval (13-6) officially had his next fight announced, courtesy
of his team of the Iridium
Sports Agency. On May 7, “Raw Dawg” will throw down with
Matt
Schnell (15-5, 1 NC) in what could be a thrilling flyweight
contest on UFC 274. The destination of that event is still
uncertain, other than that it will take place in the U.S. Earlier
in the day, another fight was also announced for this event, coming
by way of ESPN
Deportes, which broke the news that Fernando
Garcia (10-1) will take on Journey
Newson (9-3, 1 NC) on the prelims.
Since joining the promotion in 2020, Royval has put on thrilling
performances against the likes of Tim Elliott,
Kai
Kara France and Rogerio
Bontorin, winning each of those matchups. He has also fallen
short to former champ Brandon
Moreno and tapped out to a choke from Alexandre
Pantoja on his way up the division. The Factory X fighter
sports a finish rate of 85% as a pro, which comes high in a weight
class that presents a lower stoppage rate than some of their
heavier counterparts.
Schnell’s last opponent was also Bontorin, and that night he
dropped a unanimous verdict to the Brazilian. There were a few
major caveats to the losing performance: the fight took place up a
division at bantamweight, Bontorin still missed weight, and
Bontorin subsequently failed a post-fight drug test for a banned
diuretic to overturn the result to a no contest. As a result,
Schnell has only lost once in his last seven outings, with that
coming to the aforementioned Pantoja. “Danger” has topped the likes
of Tyson
Nam, Jordan
Espinosa and Naoki Inoue
as he moved through the flyweight category, while also beating
Louis
Smolka at 135 pounds.
UFC 272 is coming on May 7 at an undetermined venue, but it will
bring with it a pair of highly anticipated title fights. Serving as
the main event is a light heavyweight battle between Glover
Teixeira and Jiri
Prochazka. The co-headliner will see Charles
Oliveira take on Justin
Gaethje. Other fights that may be placed on the main card
include a featherweight clash between Norma
Dumont and Macy
Chiasson, and a lightweight scrap between veterans as Donald
Cerrone faces Joe
Lauzon.
