TLDR
- Brandon Royval defeated Lone’er Kavanagh by rear-naked choke with 1:20 left in round three at UFC 329
- Kavanagh knocked Royval down hard in round two and landed multiple heavy elbows before Royval survived
- Royval controlled round one with his reach and finished strong to win all three scorecards for that frame
- The victory ended Royval’s two-fight losing streak and improved his record to 18-9
- Royval called out Asu Almabayev after praising Kavanagh as a future champion
Sources: sports.yahoo.com | mmamania.com | sports.yahoo.com
Brandon Royval ended his two-fight losing streak with a rear-naked choke submission victory over Lone’er Kavanagh at UFC 329 on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The finish came with 1:20 remaining in the third round of their flyweight bout.
Royval improved his record to 18-9 with the win. Kavanagh dropped to 10-1 in his professional career.
The fight started well for Royval, who controlled the distance with his jab and reach advantage in the first round. He frustrated the shorter Kavanagh by catching kicks and landing counters. Royval secured a takedown late in the opening frame to win the round on all three scorecards.
Kavanagh Drops Royval in Second Round
The second round changed dramatically when Kavanagh slipped a straight punch from Royval and cracked him with a heavy counter right hand. Royval hit the canvas hard and appeared in serious trouble.
Kavanagh landed approximately a dozen hard elbows on the grounded Royval. Blood poured from Royval’s face as he used his guard to survive the assault. Royval eventually made it back to his feet but got rocked again by another elbow from Kavanagh.
Brandon Royval submits Lone'er Kavanagh in a THRILLER 🤯 #UFC329 pic.twitter.com/u411UgKfc3
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 12, 2026
Despite the damage, Royval finished the second round with pressure and landed good shots on a tiring Kavanagh. The momentum began shifting back in Royval’s favor.
Third Round Reversal Leads to Submission
Royval took control in the final round despite taking some heavy shots early. He wrestled Kavanagh to the floor and began landing cutting elbows of his own, returning the punishment from the previous round.
Kavanagh gave up his back while trying to escape an arm triangle choke attempt. Royval immediately capitalized on the mistake and locked in the rear-naked choke for the finish.
After the fight, Royval called himself a “master of chaos” and praised Kavanagh as a “future champion.” He requested that both fighters receive performance bonuses for the action-packed battle.
Royval then called out Asu Almabayev for his next fight. The win came just days after Royval received “Fight of the Year” honors at the World MMA Awards for his 2025 loss to Joshua Van.
King Green Beats the Clock: Seconds Away From Defeat, He Scores Stunning Comeback Win
The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for Royval that included defeats to current champion Joshua Van and top contender Manel Kape. He had also previously lost to Tatsuro Taira.
For Kavanagh, the loss is his second in his last three fights. The 27-year-old Englishman had defeated Brandon Moreno earlier in 2026 but also lost to Charles Johnson before that upset victory.
The UFC 329 event streamed live on Paramount+. Royval and Kavanagh walked to the cage at approximately 9:45 p.m. ET as scheduled.
