Brandon Royval vs. Rogerio Bontorin added to UFC Fight Night on Jan. 15

Top 10 flyweights Brandon Royval and Rogerio Bontorin will square off in the promotion’s first event of 2022.

Royval (12-6 MMA, 2-2 UFC) meets Bontorin (17-3-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night on Jan. 15 in an event which doesn’t yet have a known venue or location.

A person with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. MMA Fighting was first to report the news.

After a pair of “Fight of the Night” wins over Tim Elliott and Kai Kara-France, Royval will look to snap a two-fight losing skid. The 29-year-old former LFA flyweight champion is coming off back-to-back stoppage losses to current UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno and top contender Alexandre Pantoja.

Bontorin is coming off a unanimous decision win over Matt Schnell at UFC 262, a bantamweight bout in which he missed weight by one pound. Following his win over Schnell, the Brazilian was flagged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency when he tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide, a banned diuretic stemming from an out-of-competition urine sample collected on May 1. He was handed a three-month suspension and is already eligible to compete.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for Jan. 15 includes:

• Bill Algeo vs. Joanderson Brito
• Saidyokub Kakhramonov vs. Brian Kelleher
• Zarrukh Adashev vs. Kleydson Rodrigues
• Rogerio Bontorin vs. Brandon Royval