Royval vs Nicolau

Who won Royval vs Nicolau?

Brandon Royval beat Matheus Nicolau by during the prelims of UFC Fight Night – Holloway vs. Allen, on Saturday 15th April 2023 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Brandon Royval.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Flyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 125 pounds (8.9 stone or 56.7 KG).

Royval vs Nicolau stats

Brandon Royval stepped into the octagon with a record of 14 wins, 6 losses and 0 draws, 3 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 9 by submission.

Matheus Nicolau made his way to the cage with a record of 19 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, 5 of those wins coming by knock out and 5 by submission.

Brandon Royval's UFC record stood at 6-3-0, while Matheus Nicolau's came in at 7-1-0.

The stats suggested Nicolau had a slight advantage in power over Royval, with a 26% knock out percentage over Royval's 21%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Royval had a massive advantage over Nicolau, boasting a 64% submission rate over Nicolau's 26%.

Brandon Royval was the same age as Matheus Nicolau, at 31 years old.

Royval had a height advantage of 3 inches over Nicolau. That also extended to a 4-inch reach advantage.

Royval was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 2 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2012, 2 years later than Nicolau, whose first professional fight was in 2010. He had fought the same amount of professional rounds, 49 to Nicolau's 49.

Royval vs Nicolau form

Royval had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges 3 times.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Brandon Moreno at UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Royval 2 on 24th February 2024 by split decision in their 5 round contest at Arena CDMX, Mexico City, Mexico.

Previous to that, he had lost to Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 296 on 16th December 2023 by unanimous decision in their UFC Flyweight championship fight at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, United States.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Matheus Nicolau at UFC Fight Night – Holloway vs. Allen on 15th April 2023 by knockout in the 1st round at T-Mobile Center, Kansas City.

Before that, he had defeated Matt Schnell at UFC 274 on 7th May 2022 by submission in the 1st round at Jeunesse Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

He was victorious against Rogerio Bontorin at UFC Fight Night on 15th January 2022 by split decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas, United States.

Nicolau had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance 3 times.

In his last fight before this contest, he had been beaten by Brandon Royval at UFC Fight Night – Holloway vs. Allen on 15th April 2023 by knockout in the 1st round at T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Matt Schnell at UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Holland on 3rd December 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round at Amway Center, Orlando.

Going into that contest, he had beaten David Dvorak at UFC Fight Night Columbus on 26th March 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Nationwide Arena, Columbus.

Before that, he had defeated Tim Elliott at UFC Vegas 39 on 9th October 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

He was victorious against Manel Kape at UFC Vegas 21 on 13th March 2021 by split decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Brandon Royval had been fighting more than Matheus Nicolau.

Going to this contest, Brandon Royval had last fought 1 month and 25 days ago, while Matheus Nicolau's last outing had been 1 year and 3 days ago.

Royval's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 3 months and 3 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 5 months and 13 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 15 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3 rounds on average.

Nicolau's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 1 month and 5 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 7 months and 14 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 12 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.4 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Royval vs Nicolau?

Brandon Royval was a 17/10 (+170) underdog going into the contest, while Matheus Nicolau made his way into the ring at 12/25 (-210) with oddsmakers.