UFC fighter Brandon Royval will face Tatsuro Taira in the main event of the UFC Vegas 98 fight card. The match is scheduled to take place at UFC APEX on Saturday.
Before this, the fighter was offered a fight with Kai Asakura at UFC 305 in Perth, but he turned it down because he felt the promotion did not make it worth his time.
“They offered me that fight in Australia,” Royval told MMA Fighting. “I asked them for more money, I asked for a handful of stuff, and they said no. And then I asked them for one of any of those things, and they said no. And I was like, all right, well, then I’m not gonna go f*cking fight some dude, not in the UFC, for not much money, all the way across the [world] where I’m not getting any sleep. I’m not getting any of this, I’m not getting a guaranteed title shot, I’m not getting any more money.
“I got to bring my whole team out there if I’m going to go out there because I need to get my Arcadian rhythm in cycle. So it’s like I got to fly out my whole team and guys that look like Kai Asakura. So it was one of those [things where] financially [it] doesn’t make sense to me. And then it also, like, the risk doesn’t [exceed] the reward. If I go out there and lose, I just lost somebody without a ranking, and if I go out there and win, they’re not guaranteeing me a title shot or anything. So there was really no reward in that.”
Royval’s upcoming bout will be his 10th appearance in the octagon since his debut in 2020. The fighter got his first UFC gold shot at UFC 296 but lost to Alexandre Pantoja. After this loss, the fighter faced Brandon Moreno at UFC Mexico City in the main event and won a split decision. Due to his experience, the fighter believes every fight should be worth it and shouldn’t be entered into without weighing the costs and benefits.
“Dude, I think of myself like, bro, I’m a prostitute for sure,” Royval explained. “I put my body on the line for money. But at this point [that] I f*cking earned my No. 1 spot. I fought my ass off. I’m No. 1 in the world. So, I’m an expensive prostitute. I’m not a cheap ass prostitute anymore. I’m not just selling my body to anybody who we’ll take it.
“I f*cking, I got a price on me, and I’m not just f*cking anybody. Do you know what I’m saying? I still believe in my heart of hearts I’m the most exciting fighter in the flyweight division. Anytime my fights haven’t been exciting, It wasn’t because of me.”
Although the fighter is content with his earlier choice to forfeit the fight, Royval doesn’t mind getting a chance to avenge his loss to the champ. Royval disclosed his willingness to compete in a rebooked match with Askura if UFC returns to Japan in 2025.
“I don’t know, I really don’t know,” Royval said. “I want to fight for a belt. But that being said is like, if they’re not gonna give me a belt and it’s like, I think I have a win over the whole top five of the division, I don’t know what else you guys want, motherf*cker.
“But damn, yeah, I kinda wanna fight Kai Asakura in Japan. Japan is a dream. Kai Asakura is sick. That gets me out of bed, and I want to fight for a f*cking belt. If they want to hype Kai, then I want to take that.”
