UFC 274: Brandon Royval vs. Matt Schnell prediction, odds, fight preview

The 29-year-old flyweight, Brandon “Raw Dog” Royval is 3-2 since joining the UFC. 2 of his wins have come by submission and both of his losses have come by finish. His opponent, Matt “Danger” Schnell is 32 5-3-1 in the UFC. Recently, Schnell is 1-1-1 with a split decision win, knockout loss, and a no contest.

Royval vs. Schnell will air on the UFC 274 live stream this Saturday night. Fight fans can order the UFC 274 PPV here to watch every fight live.

Betting Odds

Royval is a sizable favorite over Schnell.

• Royval: -255
• Schnell: +200

Breakdown

As evident by his UFC record, Royval is an all-offense type of fighter. He tends to fight aggressively, moving forward regularly, and unloads a wide variety of strikes. Royval pushes a high pace, and, because of his great cardio, is able to strike with big movement attacks. He will often fight behind a jab, then, suddenly, throw a head kick and follow it with a heavy hook. Royval can seamlessly switch between his punches and kicks, all with speed and power. His ultimate strength, though, is his grappling. Royval is an insistent submission artist who rotates, sprawls, and pivots on the mat like a fish out of water. He is never content with being in a defensive position and will risk a worse position to gain his own attack. Just like on the feet, Royval is all offense on the mat and can find a finish in an instant. “Raw Dog’s” main obstacle is that he sacrifices defense for offense. On the feet, while Royval has good movement and footwork, once planted, he can be tagged cleanly. Then, on the mat, despite his high-level jiu-jitsu, Royval can be caught in dangerous positions.

Schnell, on the feet, has very fast hands and throws in combination. He is sound defensively, despite having 3 knockout losses, and uses his quick movement and footwork to get in and out of the pocket. He is constantly moving and throwing volume which can cost him if he moves into a strike or his opponent can time his attack with a counter. On the mat, Schnell is historically a good ground fighter who has a strong defensive grappling and slick submissions. Recently, though, Schnell has favored a striking heavy approach in lue of his grappling. With such fast hands and tight combinations, offensively, this approach has looked like a smart move. However, Schnell, like Royval, tends to plant his feet when he throws and can be a stationary target. Once stationary, Schnell has been caught in strike for strike fights where his chin is often the one rocked first.

Prediction

Both of these fighters are eerily similar- fast and athletic strikers who move well on the feet but plant to throw, and both have high level ground games. In this fight, I like Royval to be a slight step ahead both in in the striking and on the mat. His kicking game and scramble ability should be enough to test Schnell’s sometimes porous defense.

Prediction: Royval to win inside the distance