Brandon Moreno vs. Brandon Royval Prediction: Can Brandon Moreno Repeat At UFC Mexico City?

Brandon Moreno vs. Brandon Royval Prediction: Can Brandon Moreno Repeat At UFC Mexico City?

Brandon Royval and Brandon Moreno will meet for their rematch at UFC Mexico City, which will start at 10 PM Eastern time in the Mexico City arena in Mexico City, Mexico, on Saturday, February 24th. Brandon Moreno won the first meeting by TKO in the first round after Brandon Royval suffered a shoulder injury. While controversial, Brandon Royval has his chance at revenge this Saturday. However, he is a pretty big underdog to do so, as Brandon Moreno is a hefty -300 favorite to make it 2–0 against Royval. Who will win this one?

Moreno vs. Royval DATE, TIME, AND WHERE TO WATCH

• Date: February 24, 2024
• Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
• Where to Watch: ESPN+

Brandon Moreno vs. Brandon Royval Prediction

While their first fight happened over three years ago, we can still draw notes from their first matchup for reference. In their first fight, Brandon Moreno was pretty much dominant. He landed the harder shots on the feet, and every time Royval tried to close the distance, Moreno quickly changed levels and took him down. Moreno finished with two takedowns in that first round while racking up three minutes of control time. On the second takedown, he also got Royval's back pretty quickly and nearly submitted him with a rear naked choke. Royval was able to escape the submission attempts, but he still lost that first round if we were to have gone to the scorecards, and Moreno looked on track to win that fight. To be completely honest, I’m not sure what more can change for Royval in the rematch. Moreno is not a great matchup for him, as he can counter all have all of his offense on the feet and fire back takedown attempts. Moreno has already proven that he can take down Royval, and that has been the knack of Royval so far in the UFC. Moreno has only gotten better since then, winning the flyweight belt multiple times against some of the best flyweights in the world, even though he is coming off a very close split decision loss to the current champ, Alexandre Pantoja. Simply put, Brandon Moreno has more paths to victory in this fight. He can counter on the feet and keep it competitive with his slick combos, and he also has a takedown in his back pocket at all times. He is an extremely good BJJ grappler as well, Holding the only submission loss Deiveson Figueiredo has ever taken in his career, which also came in a fight for the flyweight belt. Moreno also has excellent cardio, as he will not tire over the course of these five rounds. However, the line has too much juice, as taking Moreno at -300 offers no value. Therefore, I am taking Moreno to win inside the distance at +150, as I believe he can either finish Royval with strikes, or the more likely method of submitting him on the ground. He nearly submitted Royval in their last fight, and he should get back to that position in this fight again.

Brandon Moreno vs. Brandon Royval Pick

Pick: Brandon Moreno Wins Inside the Distance (+150) Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds

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