Preview: UFC on ESPN 29 ‘Cannonier vs. Gastelum’

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Flyweights

#3 FLW | Alexandre Pantoja (23-5, 7-3 UFC) vs. #6 FLW | Brandon Royval (12-5, 2-1 UFC)

ODDS: Pantoja (-165), Royval (+145)

This should be a war and stands out as the clear highlight of the card. He did not win the all-flyweight season of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2016, but Brazil’s Pantoja rightfully went into the tournament as its top seed. An accomplished regional vet, Pantoja can hold his own anywhere and brings a constant level of aggression to his fights; after all, one does not get the nickname of “The Cannibal” while being mild-mannered. Pantoja has been on the fringes of title contention for as long as he has been in the UFC, but he has yet to get that one win to put him over the top as a true title threat. In recent years, he fell just short in an absolute war against Deiveson Figueiredo and a grappling-heavy affair against Askar Askarov. On the plus side, one of Pantoja’s triumphs is a 2018 win over current flyweight champion Brandon Moreno. Combine that with Pantoja coming off one of his career-best performances against Manel Kape in February, and he should find himself in a strong position with a win against Royval. Colorado’s Royval was a breath of fresh air upon signing with the UFC shortly into its pandemic era.

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Royval is an absolute maniac of a fighter, a complete whirlwind wherever he decides to take the fight, either throwing whatever strike—usually spinning—happens to come to mind or initiating non-stop scrambles with his opponent. Add in his large and lanky frame for the flyweight division, and Royval provides a constant threat to his counterparts and to himself because of his complete lack of defense. Royval quickly got himself into contention with exciting wins over Tim Elliott and Kai Kara France, but his breakout 2020 campaign came to a stop with a loss to Moreno, as he suffered a shoulder injury late in the first round that immediately led to a finish. Now healed, Royval could find himself immediately back in the mix with a win over Pantoja. This could go either way. Pantoja is in the rare spot of being more of a thinking fighter than his opponent, but it is difficult to tell if that is a positive or a negative. Pantoja could stay just measured enough to blast Royval when the Coloradan tries something just a bit too high-risk, or Royval could wind up swamping Pantoja with the volume that his unchecked insanity inside the cage tends to bring. The bet is that Pantoja can hold his own on the ground and find enough openings to hit Royval with some hard shots and separate himself on the scorecards, but this one is all about enjoying the violence. The pick is Pantoja via decision.

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