Highlights! Brandon Royval chokes out Lone’er Kavanagh after bloody brawl | UFC 329 — Federação de Jiu-Jitsu, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation

Brandon Royval vs. Lone’er Kavanagh squared off earlier tonight (Sat., July 11, 2026) at UFC 329 LIVE on Paramount+ from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. After a very chaotic fight, Royval rallied late to secure the third-round rear naked choke victory.

Royval began the fight with strong jabs and distance control. Any time the shorter man tried to kick from long distance, Royval would look to catch and counter. He really frustrated Kavanagh with his reach, and then Royval added onto his game with a well-timed takedown late in the round. Kavanagh’s back was to the wall by round two, but he adjusted well.

The rising contender slipped a Royval straight and cracked him upside the head with a heavy counter punch. “Raw Dog” hit the floor hard, and though he was able to use his guard to recover, he ate a dozen hard elbows in the process. Bloodied and battered, Royval eventually returned to his feet and get rocked again by an elbow. Still, he finished the round with pressure, landing good shots on a fading Kavanagh.

Royval is built for this kind of attritional war, and he took over in the third despite some heavy return fire. He wrestled Kavanagh to the floor and started returning the favor with cutting elbows. Kavanagh gave up his back to avoid an arm triangle choke but eventually fell victim to a rear naked choke instead.

Check out the video highlights below:

Royval entered this bout having lost his last two to champion Joshua Van and top contender Manel Kape. This stellar performance was a strong reminder that he remains a genuine Top Five Flyweight, and surging Asu Almabayev was a perfect post-fight callout. Royval has some work to do if he’s to score another title shot, but after a win like this, nobody should fully count out “Raw Dog.”

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Fonte: MMA Mania — leia o original