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UFC on ESPN 29 results: Alexandre Pantoja taps Brandon Royval, politely challenges Brandon Moreno

Alexandre Pantoja could be next in line for a UFC flyweight title shot.

In the UFC on ESPN 29 main card opener Saturday, Pantoja (24-5 MMA, 7-4 UFC) submitted Brandon Royval (12-6 MMA, 2-2 UFC) with a rear-naked choke at 1:46 of Round 2. The event took place UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.

Following Friday’s ceremonial faceoffs, UFC president Dana White indicated the winner of the fight will be next in line for flyweight champion Brandon Moreno, who was in attendance at Saturday’s event. If that holds true, Pantoja punched his ticket as the next title challenger.

The first round was filled with grappling scrambles and wild striking exchanges. In the first few seconds of the fight, Pantoja muscled Royval to the canvas. From there, Royval countered with leg submission attempts. Back on the feet, Pantoja landed a series of hard punches, one of which, in particular, hurt Royval, who covered his eye.

Royval fought through the blow to the eye. In Round 2, Pantoja quickly worked to the back of Royval again. This time, Royval was unable to wiggle his way out. From there, Pantoja locked in his grip, and after a brief struggle, got the tap.

Following the win, Pantoja was given the opportunity to send a message to Moreno, who sat cage-side as part of the UFC’s Spanish-language broadcast. While Pantoja’s two career wins over Moreno were brought up by Daniel Cormier, Pantoja elected to compliment the champion and his improvement over the years. He also hinted at a potential September matchup.

“The first time I won (against) him on TUF, he came back to the UFC and made a bonus and everything. The second time when I won (against him) he defied and came back like a champ.”

With the win, Pantoja extends his winning streak to two. In February, Pantoja defeated former RIZIN champ Manel Kape via unanimous decision. Since May 2018, Pantoja has accumulated a 6-2 record with his losses coming against Deiveson Figueiredo and Askar Askarov.

As for Royval, the loss is his second straight. At UFC 255 in November, Royval lost to Moreno via TKO after he suffered a shoulder injury and faced subsequent unanswered strikes. The defeat ended an undefeated 2020 run which included back-to-back victories over Tim Elliott and Kai Kara-France to kick off his UFC tenure.

Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 29 results include:

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