Brandon Royval addresses loss to Joshua Van after potential Fight of the Year at UFC 317

Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC

It’s just not in Brandon Royval’s nature to back down from a challenge.

That’s effectively the message the one-time title contender conveyed after his unanimous decision loss to Joshua Van at UFC 317 after the flyweights put on arguably the Fight of the Year. The back-and-forth war ended in dramatic fashion with Van scoring a knockdown and Royval just barely surviving to the final horn in the third round.

Originally scheduled to face Manel Kape on the card...