A flyweight fight between Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval is part of the main card at UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Gastelum on Saturday, August 21 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pantoja is 23-5 in his career, including 3-2 in his last five fights, while Royval is 12-5 in his career, including 4-1 in his last five fights. There are five fights on the main card of UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Gastelum and seven fights on the preliminary card. All 12 fights can be seen on ESPN 2 and ESPN+. Let’s look at the bout between Pantoja vs. Royval and UFC predictions.
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Gastelum takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, August 21 with five fights on the main card and seven on the preliminary card with all 12 bouts on ESPN 2 and ESPN+.
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Gastelum Betting
Alexandre Pantoja (23-5, 7-3 UFC)
Pantoja came into the UFC with a record of 16-2 and he has seven wins and three losses in the UFC. In his last five fights he is 3-2. Pantoja is coming off a unanimous decision win against Manel Kape in February. Pantoja lost a unanimous decision to Askar Askarov in July of last year, won by KO against Matt Schnell in December of 2019, lost by unanimous decision to Deiveson Figueiredo in July of 2019 and won by TKO against Wilson Reis in April of 2019. Pantoja has been a pro since 2007 and he has eight wins by KO/TKO and eight by submission. He has nine first round finishes.
Pantoja could be in a position to get a title shot if he wins this fight on Saturday night. Brandon Moreno is the current flyweight champion and Pantoja would like nothing more than to get a title shot against a fighter he beat three years ago.
Brandon Royval (12-5, 2-1 UFC)
Royval came into the UFC with a record of 10-4 and he has two wins and one loss in the UFC. He is 4-1 in his last five fights. He is coming off a TKO loss to Brandon Moreno in November of last year. Royval won by submission against Kai Kara-France in September of last year, won by submission against Tim Elliott in May of last year, won by submission against Nate Williams in November of 2019 and won by submission against Jody Sanchez in May of 2019. Royval has been a pro since 2012 and he has three wins by KO/TKO and eight wins by submission. He has eight first round finishes.
Royval has fought just three times in the UFC and he looked good in his first two fights before losing to Moreno last time out. This is a big fight for Royval to prove he is a true title contender in the flyweight division.
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Pantoja 4.30 / Royval 3.77
Striking Accuracy: Pantoja 47% / Royval 46%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Pantoja 3.39 / Royval 2.88
Defense: Pantoja 53% / Royval 47%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Pantoja 0.94 / Royval 0.79
Takedown Accuracy: Pantoja 35% / Royval 100%
Takedowns defended: Pantoja 68% / Royval 53%
Submission average: Pantoja 0.9 / Royval 2.4
UFC Picks
The odds on this fight favor Pantoja at -180 and the rounds are listed at 2.5 with the over at -160. I don’t think there is any question that Pantoja is the superior fighter and I think the price of less than 2-1 is fair. Royval definitely has some ability but I don’t know that he is a fighter who is going to challenge the top fighters in the division and you can make a case that Pantoja can be a top challenger. I think there are two plays worth making in his fight. I’ll lay the price and take Pantoja and I will also play the rounds to go under the total.
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Gastelum Card & Odds
Middleweight - Kelvin Gastelum +124 vs. Jared Cannonier -155
Flyweight - Brandon Royval +143 vs. Alexandre Pantoja -180
Bantamweight - Domingo Pilarte +139 vs. Brian Kelleher -175
Light Heavyweight - Fabio Cherant +150 vs. William Knight -190
Heavyweight - Parker Porter +161 vs. Chase Sherman -205
Lightweight - Austin Hubbard -115 vs. Vinc Pichel -115
Featherweight - Austin Lingo +105 vs. Luis Saldana -135
Lightweight - Clay Guida +135 vs. Mark O. Madsen -170
Welterweight - Ramiz Brahimaj -130 vs. Sasha Palatnikov +100
Women's Bantamweight - Josiane Nunes +124 vs. Bea Malecki -155
Lightweight - Roosevelt Roberts -150 vs. Ignacio Bahamondes +120
Middleweight - Antonio Braga Neto +105 vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan -135
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