Change-Up! Moreno Vs. Royval 2 To Headline UFC Mexico

The battle of the Brandons part two is officially on.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced today (Thurs., Jan. 11, 2024) after an interview with Brandon Moreno (21-7-2) from ESPN Deportes’ Carlos Contreras Legaspi that a new Flyweight main event is headed to UFC Mexico in Mexico City next month (Sat., Feb. 24, 2024). What was originally set to be Moreno vs. his fellow top-ranked contender, Amir Albazi, will now be a rematch between Moreno and the most recent title challenger, Brandon Royval (15-7).

Update: Albazi revealed on Twitter that a lingering neck injury led to his withdrawal.

“I don’t know what happened with Amir Albazi, but he’s out of the fight,” Moreno told Legaspi. “So, now I’m gonna fight against Brandon Royval. He fought for the belt in December. I’m just ready. It’s just about the next opponent.

“I just want the opportunity to fight for the title again and if UFC says I have to fight one more time before that, I will,” he concluded.

The first fight between the pair of Flyweights took place in November 2020 and resulted in a Moreno first round technical knockout that ultimately ascended him to championship status the year after. Since then, each has won three fights with two losses and will both look to rebound off title fight shortcomings to the current champion, Alexandre Pantoja.

“It was a fast, quick fight,” Moreno said of the first Royval fight. “Royval had this problem in the shoulder, but I really believe I was winning the fight so … He was saying a lot of different things on social media about our fight in 2020, but at the end, we are going to fight again. In front of my people, and I’m excited for that.”

The current line up for UFC Mexico can be seen below.

• 125lbs.: Brandon Moreno vs. Brandon Royval
• 145lbs.: Yair Rodríguez vs. Brian Ortega
• 155lbs.: Manuel Torres vs. Chris Duncan
• 125lbs.: Jesús Santos Aguilar vs. Mateus Mendonça
• 115lbs.: Yazmin Jauregui vs. Sam Hughes
• 125lbs.: Edgar Chairez vs. Daniel Lacerda
• 125lbs.: Victor Altamirano vs. Felipe dos Santos
• 135lbs.: Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios
• 125lbs.: Luis Rodriguez vs. Denys Bondar
• 155lbs.: Daniel Zellhuber vs. Francisco Prado
• 135lbs.: Raoni Barcelos vs. Cristian Quiñonez
• 145lbs.: Muhammad Naimov vs. Erik Silva
• 155lbs.: Farès Ziam vs. Claudio Puelles