Alexandre Pantoja is favored against Brandon Royval at UFC 296: Edwards vs. Covington on Saturday, December 16 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event is one of five fights on the main pay-per-view card. Pantoja is 26-5 in his career, while Royval is 15-6 in his career. There are a total of 14 fights, with five on Pay-Per-View, four on ESPN2/ESPN+, and five on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass at UFC 296: Edwards vs. Covington. Let’s look at the bout between Pantoja and Royval and UFC predictions.
UFC 296: Edwards vs. Covington takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, December 16 with 14 fights, with five Pay-Per-View, four on ESPN2/ESPN+, and five on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
UFC 296: Edwards vs. Covington Betting
Alexandre Pantoja (26-5, 10-3 UFC)
Pantoja came into the UFC with a record of 16-2 and he has 10 wins and three losses in the UFC. In his last six fights, he has five wins and one loss. He defeated Matt Schnell by KO, Manel Kape by unanimous decision, Brandon Royval by rear-naked choke submission, Alex Perez by neck crank submission, and Brandon Moreno by split decision; while losing to Askar Askarov by unanimous decision. Pantoja has been a pro since 2007 and he has eight wins by TKO/KO and 10 by submission. He has 10 first round finishes.
Pantoja said this to mmafighting.com about his upcoming fight against Royval, “Royval definitely deserves to fight for the belt. It’s a guy coming off a few big wins. He knocked out Matheus Nicolau, a phenomenal fighter from Brazil. He finished Matt Schnell, and he (beat Rogerio Bontarin). He deserves it. He’s fought with everybody in the top 10, he deserves to fight for the belt, and it’s a very good match in a very different moment for me. When I fought Brandon Royval for the first time, that time I was driving (for) Uber, I had an injury in my knee, and that fight had a lot of emotion. I think at one point, all the emotion was very heavy, but I could use that. My mind in that fight was 200 percent, very strong. Now it’s very different moment. He wants something that I have and I need to take care. Brandon Royval is very, very real dude. He’s a guy I need to be prepared for.…. Brandon Royval is a tremendous fighter. I love his style, very aggressive, very good jiu-jitsu. Like me, except he’s tall and a southpaw. Very impressive fighter. I love watching his fights and 100 percent this can be Fight of the Night.
Brandon Royval (15-6, 5-2 UFC)
Royval came into the UFC with a record of 10-4 and he has five wins and two losses in the UFC. He defeated Tim Elliott by arm-triangle choke submission, Kai Kara-France by guillotine choke submission, Rogério Bontorin by split decision, Matt Schnell by guillotine choke submission, and Matheus Nicolau by KO; while losing to Brandon Moreno by TKO and Alexandre Pantoja by rear-naked choke submission. Royval has been a pro since 2012 and he has five wins by TKO/KO and eight by submission. He has 10 first round finishes.
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Pantoja 4.41 / Royval 3.45
Striking Accuracy: Pantoja 48% / Royval 38%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Pantoja 3.81 / Royval 2.63
Defense: Pantoja 51% / Royval 50%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Pantoja 1.75 / Royval 0.66
Takedown Accuracy: Pantoja 44% / Royval 100%
Takedowns defended: Pantoja 66% / Royval 39%
Submission average: Pantoja 1.0/ Royval 2.3
UFC Picks
I think this fight is a lot like the main event in that I simply think the favorite should win and that the price is reasonable. Pantoja has fought better competition, won more, has more ways to win and has already beaten Royval. I have been very successful betting rounds lately, but at UFC 296 I think both of the main two fights will go to the current champs. I’ll lay the price and take Pantoja to get the win in this bout.
| DATE |
FIGHTERS |
MONEY LINE |
| 12/16 |
Colby Covington |
+131 |
| Leon Edwards |
-165 |
| 12/16 |
Brandon Royval |
+147 |
| Alexandre Pantoja |
-186 |
| 12/16 |
Stephen Thompson |
+431 |
| Shavkat Rakhmonov |
-650 |
| 12/16 |
Tony Ferguson |
+248 |
| Paddy Pimblett |
-330 |
| 12/16 |
Vicente Luque |
+277 |
| Ian Garry |
-375 |
| 12/16 |
Brian Kelleher |
+168 |
| Cody Garbrandt |
-215 |
| 12/16 |
Alonzo Menifield |
+194 |
| Dustin Jacoby |
-250 |
| 12/16 |
Shamil Gaziev |
+121 |
| Martin Buday |
-152 |
| 12/16 |
Karol Rosa |
+161 |
| Irene Aldana |
-205 |
| 12/16 |
Muslim Salikhov |
+214 |
| Randy Brown |
-280 |
| 12/16 |
Ariane Lipski |
+154 |
| Casey O’Neill |
-195 |
| 12/16 |
Cody Durden |
+139 |
| Tagir Ulanbekov |
-175 |
| 12/16 |
Lucas Almeida |
+139 |
| Andre Fili |
-175 |
| 12/16 |
Josh Emmett |
+172 |
| Bryce Mitchell |
-220 |
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