Brandon Royval is set to return this weekend at the UFC Apex where he faces the undefeated Tatsuro Taira in the main event.
Even after beating Brandon Moreno last time out to cement his status as the #1-ranked flyweight in the division, handing Taira his first win may not be enough for him to secure a second title shot.
"Raw Dog" has already suffered two defeats to the current champion, Alexandre Pantoja, which makes it significantly harder to put him straight back in.
Royval spoke in a recent interview with Inside Fighting about how the talk of who will be Pantoja's next challenger has been pretty quiet.
After he faced a surprising opponent in Steve Erceg last time out, it would have likely been Muhammad Mokaev as the next in line if he was still with the promotion.
Royval, however, believes that it could be a new arrival into the division that is next for the champ.
Earlier this year in June, the UFC was announced to have signed RIZIN bantamweight champion Kai Asakura.
The 30-year old Japanese star has got a huge fan following back in his native country and by all accounts, would be jumping in at the deep end once he arrived inside the Octagon.
Royval took this as him facing Pantoja down at 125-pounds, as he told Inside Fighting.
I mean I thought it was Kai Asakura. I thought that was who the next fight would be and I was like, if I win this fight, I’m just gonna call out Pantoja or Asakura. But I mean I’ve still never heard anything so maybe it’s like I’m just starting these rumours myself.
Royval was also asked how he would feel about someone new entering the promotion and jumping right into a title shot.
His response was that someone new being the champion would help his case for another title shot and in his opinion, Asakura would have a good chance of beating Pantoja.
Oh I don’t give a s***, as long as it doesn’t affect my road, it would be dope if he wins because if he wins, I for sure get the next title shot. In my opinion, I don’t really care. I just try to get in there when I fit in there so I think if he wins and beats Alexandre Pantoja, which I think is a strong possibility, then I could go fight Kai Asakura.”
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