Brandon Royval is willing to fight Henry Cejudo if he drops back down to flyweight.
Royval (17-7 MMA, 7-3 UFC) re-entered the title picture when he handed Tatsuro Taira (16-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) his first-career loss less than two weeks ago in the UFC Fight Night 244 main event.
Royval, who’s coming off back-to-back wins over former champion Brandon Moreno and Taira, is eyeing a title shot next. But if he doesn’t get his wish, he’s happy to face former UFC dual-champion Cejudo (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC), who said he plans on returning to 125 pounds in his next fight.
“I really don’t feel like (Cejudo) does, but I like the idea,” Royval told Middle Easy. “If they’re not giving me a title shot, I’d love to be the one that meets him. I would love to be welcoming him back to 125. Every time I’ve seen him, he looked a little big, man. I don’t know if he’s making weight at 125 anymore, and I know he struggled before.
“I feel like I’m one of the fastest in the division and he didn’t look that fast to me the last time he fought. So I’d love to beat him at 125. I would definitely be worried about the takedown, but man, there’s a big reach and height advantage coming my way, and I think I could just walk him right into a knee – vicious.”
Royval has won five of his past six, with his lone loss in that stretch coming in a title setback to UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 296 this past December.
