The MMA Daily

We have a pivotal fight in the Flyweight division, as Brandon “Raw Dawg” Royval takes on Matt “Danger” Schnell. Coming off a split decision victory over Rogerio Bontorin, in which snapped a two-fight skid, Royval will look to get his name back in the title mix. Still ranked 6th, Royval with a victory could see himself not only back in the top five, but in a title eliminator fight next. Meanwhile, Schnell is presented a big opportunity here. A loser of two of his last three fights, but still ranked 9th, Schnell has an opportunity to close in on the top five with a victory. Seemingly, his recent woes can be all undone with a victory against Royval.

As for a prediction, I have Royval winning. While Schnell has largely improved over the last five years, he has yet to establish himself among the best of the division. Not entirely due to a lack of skillset, but more or less because he lacks the necessary durability. In nine UFC fights, Schnell has lost four times. Of those four losses, he has been stopped three times. If you throw in his run in The Ultimate Fighter, Tim Elliott also finished Schnell. Royval, being the Tasmanian Devil, is going to all over Schnell from the jump. With an open invitation to being taken down, Royval is excellent off his back and is guaranteed to throw up a litany of submission attempts. On the feet, he is a tad reckless. Something I’d normally critic. However, against an an opponent who’s had durability issues, I could see it being effective. In the end, I believe the pace and non-stop attempts at finishing the fight by Royval will render the scorecards useless. So with that said, I predict Royval to win via submission.