LAS VEGAS -- At one point in his life, Brandon Royval worked as what was called a youth services specialist. He counseled young men at a juvenile detention center.
He was a part-time MMA fighter in those days who from his earliest moments in the sport showed plenty of potential. However, he didn't roll through the regional circuit the way someone of his talented might be expected to do. Oh, he was plenty good, going 5-0 as an amateur and then winning the LFA flyweight title, but he was more up and down than the stock market.
Just as it seemed if he may have gotten over the hump and would get the win that would get him into the UFC, he'd drop a bout that basically would cost him six to nine months. What the counselor needed was some counsel himself.
He changed his style multiple times, taking less risks. But the biggest thing he realized he needed to change was his attitude toward his fights.
"When I was younger, I thought I'd operate out of a place of hate," Royval told keviniole.com. "I think it was supposed to be like, 'Oh, I hate this guy. I want to end this guy.' But that's not me, and that's not what I'm about. I love this sport. I love being a mixed martial artist. So the opportunity for me to go out there and show what I love and do what I love means so much.
"For a while, it was confusing emotionally for me. I was like, 'This guy is trying to take away what I love.' A big part of the battle is learning to understand that. When I walk out on Saturday, I'm not coming out of hate. I'll be operating out of a space that's like, 'This is everything I've ever loved. This is everything I've ever wanted. This is everything I've ever wanted to do. And here I am now, getting the opportunity to do it at the highest level.' "
He'll make the walk to the Octagon on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena to challenge Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight title in the co-main event of UFC 296. The bout will be a rematch of a classic Aug. 12, 2021, battle in which Pantoja submitted Royval with a rear naked choke.
That was his second consecutive loss, following a TKO defeat to Brandon Moreno earlier in the year, after a splashy UFC debut. He defeated Tim Elliott and Kai Kara-France in his first two UFC fights, winning Fight of the Night in both of them.
'I feel like Alexandre Pantoja made me such a better fighter. It's changed my mentality. When I go in there, it's not like you're not going to get that raw dog. I'm going for it for sure. Don't get me wrong. That being said, I'm going to be a calculated killer in there.'
-- Flyweight challenger Brandon Royval
Then, there was the loss to Moreno, who went on to become champion, and the loss to Pantoja, who is now the reigning champion. Royval had a conversation with himself after that fight because he was shocked to be submitted.
"I think about it every day, honestly," he said at UFC 296 media day of the submission defeat to Pantoja. "That's one of the losses that gets to me the worst because I never ever pictured myself getting finished. I've always pictured myself maybe losing a wrestling match, but like an actual firefight, I never pictured myself losing one of those."
So again, the counselor had a chat with his closest client and realized things needed to change. He was taking too many risks and getting hit when he didn't need to, when he could have won the fight easily by operating more efficiently.
And so he says the loss to Pantoja changed him in a good way.
"It changed my whole style of how I approach fights, how I want to approach fights and how I approach training, all that kind of stuff," Royval said. "I feel like Alexandre Pantoja made me such a better fighter. It's changed my mentality. When I go in there, it's not like you're not going to get that raw dog. I'm going for it for sure. Don't get me wrong. That being said, I'm going to be a calculated killer in there."
He said as he's watched Pantoja, he's seen the same moves and little change in him from his earlier days. They know each well, but Royval will have a few wrinkles for him.
"I feel like I see a lot of the same tendencies in him from when I fought him and he fought Moreno most recently," Royval said. "I feel I can capitalize off a lot of those things. In my camp, the last few years, I've shown a lot of different sides and I've done a lot of different things. He's kind of been fighting the same way since LFA. I'm excited to show off what I can do and the fighter I have become. I have to expect he's changed some stuff up, so I'm not expecting exactly the same guy, but that being said, he has a lot of the same tendencies."