Brandon Royval reveals personal frustration behind his UFC prelim slot: “I have a brother who is incarcerated, and they have ESPN”

UFC fighter Brandon Royval has revealed his frustration at being put on the prelims for his fight against Matheus Nicolau last weekend.

In a win that earned him Performance of the Night honors, Brandon Royval knocked Matheus Nicolau out in Kansas City. He did so thanks to a vicious knee, followed by a string of nasty elbows. As a result of his win, he’s now considered to be the number one contender for the UFC flyweight championship. He’s also set to serve as the back-up fighter for the upcoming Brandon Moreno vs Alexandre Pantoja title collision.

However, while he was obviously ecstatic to get the win over Nicolau, it was certainly bittersweet – as he explained during an interview with Ariel Helwani.

“I have a brother who is incarcerated, and they have ESPN, you can see it on ESPN. The whole week we were talking, and I wouldn’t get into MMA without my brother. Me and him chose very different paths in life and this is how we bond, this was our bonding,” Royval explained.

“We grew up in this sport together…the silver lining is well okay I’m on the prelims and at least you could see this… and I go on to find out the week of that they’re having the prelims on ESPN+, so he’s not gonna be able to see any of it.