This is the UFC 317 live blog for Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van, the main card flyweight bout Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Royval (17-7), currently tied with Kyoji Horiguchi for the No. 2 spot in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, can cement himself as the next UFC flyweight title challenger if he can stop the streaking Van. “Raw Dawg” has already challenged for gold once and twice lost to current champion Alexandre Pantoja, but a narrow decision win over two-time champion Brandon Moreno and then a more definitive victory over the then-undefeated Tatsuro Taira in October have him poised for one more run at the top.
Standing in his path is Van (14-2), a 23-year-old wunderkind aiming to take the 125-pound division by storm. Van made his UFC debut in the summer of 2023 and has already compiled a 7-1 record in the promotion. After a thrilling knockout of Bruno “Bulldog” Silva in June, Van makes a quick turnaround stepping in on short notice for an injured Manel Kape and a win could fast track him to a championship opportunity.
Check out the UFC 317 live blog for Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van below.
