Brandon Royval-Matheus Nicolau Flyweight Pairing Set for UFC Event on April 15

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is putting together a potential title eliminator and tossing it on the prelims of a Fight Night card.

On Wednesday, Sports Illustrated broke the news that Brandon Royval (14-6) would be taking on Matheus Nicolau (19-2-1) on the preliminary portion of the UFC Fight Night event on April 15. The unnumbered fight card is going down at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Royval has since confirmed this flyweight contest on his Instagram page.

The UFC tenure of Royval has been streaky thus far after six appearances, earning wins in his first two outings, then dropping the next two, and bouncing back to rattle off two more victories. In 2022, “Raw Dawg” claimed a split decision – his second career win on the scorecards – over Rogerio Bontorin, and he followed that by landing a guillotine choke on Matt Schnell less than four months later. The Factory X fighter was linked to fights with Askar Askarov and Amir Albazi, but the former fell apart due to a failed weight cut from Askarov and the latter when Royval broke his wrist. Royval sports a finish rate of 86% as a pro, clocking in far higher than his opponent’s of 53%.

Brazil’s Nicolau has quietly rattled off six straight wins, including four in the UFC, to creep up the rankings of his division. Three decisions over Manel Kape, Tim Elliott and David Dvorak moved him into a key fight with Schnell in December, and he smoked the American in the second round to notch his first knockout in over eight years. This stint is Nicolau’s second, as he pulled off three wins from 2015 to 2017 before getting starched by a Dustin Ortiz head kick in 2018. Two wins outside the promotion spelled his return in 2021.

The UFC Fight Night card on April 15 will take place inside of the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Headlining it is an all-action featherweight pairing as Max Holloway takes on Arnold Allen. The co-main attraction will see Edson Barboza battle Billy Quarantillo also at 145 pounds. The main card fills out with Dustin Jacoby vs. Azamat Murzakanov in the light heavyweight division, Chris Gutierrez against Pedro Munhoz at bantamweight and a featherweight banger when T.J. Brown meets Bill Algeo.