Brandon Royval previews his UFC flyweight fight with Brandon Moreno
Brandon Royval previews his UFC flyweight fight with Brandon Moreno
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00:00 How's it going?
00:02 What's up Brandon, how you doing?
00:04 Welcome to Mexico City. How you feeling when you get up here at this altitude?
00:08 What was that? I'm sorry.
00:10 How you feeling up at this altitude?
00:12 Oh, I live at altitude man. It's nothing, honestly.
00:14 So there's no concern in taking this fight?
00:16 No, not at all. I was actually like super stoked on it.
00:19 Sweet. How did this fight come together, right?
00:21 Oh, alright. So I'm sitting at home. This is like three weeks after the Pantoja fight, maybe four weeks after the Pantoja fight.
00:27 I'm sitting at home and the holidays happen or whatever. I'm a little fat.
00:31 But I get a call and they're like, "Do you want to be the backup fighter?"
00:35 And I was like, "There's no way nobody's going to pull out of that fight."
00:38 I was like, "Free vacation to Mexico City? For sure I want that."
00:41 So I took that fight and within like, I don't know, 18 hours later I got another call and they're like, "Alright, well you're in."
00:48 And I was like, "I'm in what?" And they're like, "You're fighting Moreno at Mexico City."
00:52 I was like, "Oh shit, alright, cool."
00:54 But you know, you said in your mind, "Oh, free vacation."
00:57 Did you have to do a mental switch to be like, "Okay, I am fighting."
00:59 Or were you just like, "Hey, it's a fight. I'll take it."
01:02 Yeah, I was actually super excited. I don't know, man.
01:05 I feel like if I won my last fight, I had it in my head that I knew Amir Al-Bazi was having some health complications.
01:12 Like I at least read it somewhere.
01:14 And I had it in my head that I wanted my first title defense to be here if Amir Al-Bazi pulled out.
01:19 I thought that would have been a gangster move.
01:21 So the fact that I lost the fight, it's like, why would I not take the fight still?
01:25 In my head, I kind of already wanted to fight in Mexico City and fight Brandon Moreno in this position and in this situation anyway.
01:33 So it was just, I'm just lucky it all came together, I guess.
01:37 Let's talk about the last fight, right? Obviously a disappointing result.
01:40 But those are the sort of fights I think guys can learn from, right?
01:43 They walk out, they're maybe a better fighter even though they didn't just get the win.
01:46 Do you feel that way? Do you look at that fight as a learning experience?
01:49 Absolutely, man. I feel like there is so much to learn, so much to take away from Pantoja.
01:53 I feel like in true championship form, he made a lot of really good adjustments.
01:58 And I feel like that's something that real champions do, is make an adjustment on the fly.
02:04 And he did that. And I wish I did that too.
02:10 Does that one sting a little bit? I can see it in your face.
02:12 Oh yeah, bro. I feel like, yeah. I'm really glad they gave me this fight.
02:17 I'm really glad that I got this opportunity because I definitely needed this.
02:21 I definitely needed something to motivate me, something to get a sour taste out of my mouth.
02:26 And kind of get me back out of my funk.
02:30 I've heard fighters talk about that before, right?
02:32 Bisping once said, after he lost to GSP, he had to come back right away as possible.
02:35 So is this fight almost just about shaking that last one off and just sort of feeling like,
02:40 "Yes, I am best in the world again once I get that victory."
02:43 Yeah, exactly. And then it's just like, I just want to show the world what I can do.
02:46 And I feel like I've yet to do that.
02:48 And I felt like in that Pantoja fight, I'm like, "This is it.
02:53 This is the time I'm going to show the world what I can actually do and my actual skill set."
02:57 And it just did not happen.
02:59 And I feel like this is just another great opportunity against a fighter that I'm pretty sure is going to bring it at all costs.
03:05 I feel like, I'm not saying there's a lot of pressure on his back.
03:09 I just feel like, and maybe there is pressure on his back.
03:12 Because I feel like the odds are stacked up against me when you kind of put it all together.
03:16 The pressure kind of falls on him because we're fighting in his hometown.
03:20 I'm fighting on short notice.
03:22 I just got out of a five-round fight that I got injured in.
03:25 And it took extra long for me to get back.
03:28 And I guess I'm dealing with a lot of these variables where it's like, you don't really have to deal with that.
03:33 So I guess the pressure kind of falls on him because not only are the actual odds in his favor,
03:39 but it's just like, this is his storyline right here.
03:43 This is his city. This is his everything, you know.
03:46 And that's where I kind of feel like the pressure maybe falls a little bit more on him in that sense.
03:50 It's part of you wanting to be the spoiler, right?
03:52 Do you want to use that sort of like, "Hey, this is your storyline. I'm coming here.
03:56 And my motivation is to take that from you."
03:58 Yeah, absolutely. And it's just like, I also want to just go into a position.
04:01 And I feel like that's always kind of been one of my favorite situations is when odds are stacked up against me.
04:07 When nobody really expects me to win, it's always when I prevail the best.
04:10 And I always kind of feel that. And this is going to be no different.
04:15 It's just, I don't think I'm on the odds favor at any of this, but it's just like, I don't know.
04:21 I guess I get to mess up everybody's parlays and mess up everybody's days.
04:25 And, you know, hopefully we can make amends at the end of the fight.
04:29 And I can enjoy Mexico City for a couple more days after this and not have to go straight home.
04:33 But yeah, I'm trying to fuck everybody's day up.
04:36 Brandon, the original booking with El Bosque, a lot of people were putting that fight as a number one contender.
04:42 I know you just fought for the title, but do you feel like a win here can get you a title shot?
04:47 Where do you feel like a win will put you in the division right now?
04:51 I'm actually not sure on what happens with me.
04:54 I'm pretty sure Brandon Moreno wins, even though me and him both have the same last loss to the same person, that he's getting a title shot.
05:00 I don't necessarily know if that's the same position for me.
05:04 But I know if I go out there and style on him and I go out there and do some cool things, it's going to be hard for me to deny--
05:10 It's going to be hard to be denied because it's like, who else is there?
05:13 Amaril Bozzi's hurt. Amaril Bozzi, questionably, even won his last fight.
05:18 Everybody kind of along down the lines.
05:20 I don't even know what the story is with half the people behind me, but I just don't think it necessarily makes sense.
05:26 So hopefully, I guess hopefully, a long-winded answer is just I hope so.
05:32 And this is a rematch you guys fought before, and I forget the exact interview, but you've mentioned how the first fight you feel like because of the nature of the fight, because of the injury, you feel like it wasn't, I guess, a legitimate result?
05:45 Yeah, I can't even believe they counted it as a full-on win.
05:49 I'm on top of the dude throwing hammer fists when my shoulder dislocates.
05:52 Like, if there's a doctor's stoppage deserving win or loss, that's it.
05:58 They counted it as a TKO, or I saw the UFC post that Brandon Reyno knocked Brandon Roval out on their first out, and I'm like, who the fuck writes these things?
06:06 I'm like, who are you guys coming up with this shit?
06:08 Because I'm literally on top of homeboy, hammer fisting him, my shoulder dislocates, he pops up and he's like, looked at the ref like, what the fuck just happened?
06:17 And then all of a sudden gets on top of me and then finishes the fight with like one second left.
06:20 It's like, I mean, credit to him, maybe he won the round, but that being said, I don't think that should count as a TKO or a knockout.
06:27 It's fucking crazy.
06:28 Do you count it as a loss?
06:30 Fuck no.
06:31 And I guess, how much did it sting the fact that you went in there and you felt like you weren't able to perform just because of an injury?
06:38 Has it been kind of annoying to deal with, I guess, that loss?
06:42 And are you happy that you're getting this rematch because you get to redeem yourself now?
06:46 Yeah, yeah, it's just a chance to show what could happen, you know?
06:48 And that's really what I want, is just an opportunity to show and showcase what I can do.
06:52 I went in there in that fight knowing the possibilities of my shoulder being dislocated.
06:58 I was severely compromised.
07:00 Since I got signed to the UFC at that time, my shoulder kept getting hurt.
07:06 And it was affecting training, it was affecting everything I was doing in my daily life.
07:10 It was bad.
07:12 So I was on a roll.
07:13 I was on a roll.
07:14 I was 2-0, I just beat two top ten opponents.
07:16 I just got signed to the UFC and they gave me the number one contender, Brandon Miranda.
07:20 I was like, "Alright, let's roll this dice. Everything's worked out so far, might as well keep going with it."
07:26 So, I mean, in that situation, it was just like I knew what I was getting myself into.
07:31 I was hoping for the best and never dislocated during a fight or anything like that.
07:35 And I kept my training to a bare minimum, so I wasn't dislocating it as often.
07:42 So this is not a rematch for you. That, too, shouldn't be there.
07:45 I mean, I guess it's a rematch because we've had face before, but I just don't like the captions where it's like, "Roybal got knocked out."
07:53 It's like, "Who the fuck wrote that? Why are you guys writing that?"
07:56 If you see what happened, it's clearly not what happened at all.
08:00 But it is what it is, and I guess that's the storyline, and I guess that's what I get to change, right?
08:07 Thank you. Good luck.
08:08 Thank you, bro. I appreciate it.
08:09 After, behind, here. To your right.
08:12 Oh, my right?
08:15 After what happened in the first fight, do you feel to have the need of having closure this Saturday?
08:23 I definitely have the want. I don't think I have the need to do anything.
08:25 I just think it's a good opportunity.
08:27 If someone else was the number one contender, that's who I'd be chasing, and that's the opportunity I'd be chasing for sure.
08:33 But it's more of just a want, you know? It's that I want to.
08:36 And then Brandon Moreno, he got the number one right next to his name, and that's what I want.
08:41 That's what I'm going for. I'm chasing the opportunity more than anything.
08:46 This is another dude in front of me, and the possibility of making my dreams come true.
08:52 What else would I be doing with my life? I'm not trying to make my dreams come true at all times, you know?
08:56 Thank you.
08:57 Over here, Brandon. Welcome to Mexico.
09:00 You already shared with us your joy and your happiness to be here in Mexico City.
09:04 But we know that people in the U.S. came to Mexico to compete in any sport you say to me,
09:13 with one disadvantage, with one thing that they get the importance, the altitude of the city MX.
09:22 How are you dealing with that problem?
09:25 Because we already know that many sportmen constantly suffer with the theme of the altitude, the missing of breathing.
09:37 How are you dealing with that during your training and during the preparing for this fight?
09:44 I grew up and I live in the Mala City, Denver, Colorado. I live at altitude.
09:49 I live at 6,000 feet pretty much, and then I go and train every weekend up at 8,000 feet.
09:54 So this is nothing to me. This is actually something that I welcome.
09:57 I'm no stranger to altitude. I live in altitude.
10:01 And this is something that I think is actually more of an advantage for me than anything.
10:06 Brandon, right here. Welcome to Mexico.
10:08 Thank you.
10:09 Just a quick question. Has there been any mental preparation for this fight?
10:12 There's going to be 20,000 people. The Mexico City crowd is not hostile physically, but voicely.
10:18 It's very loud. It's very hostile.
10:20 Anything about the focus going in, doing the walkout, or any simulations for you to go?
10:25 Yeah, just a lot of visualization is really all I could do.
10:29 I guess I could get people to boo me at my gym or something like that,
10:32 but I don't think 20 people is going to make a difference in my head.
10:36 But just a lot of visualization and stuff like that.
10:40 Just kind of seeing the walkout, seeing the situations, all that. I do that no matter what.
10:50 All right, cool. Thank you guys for your time.