Brandon Royval Expects Youssef Zalal to Impress at Bantamweight Upon UFC Return

Brandon Royval believes Youssef Zalal is one of the best bantamweights at Factory X who just hasn’t gotten his share of recognition yet.

Royval (15-6) is currently gearing up to challenge Alexandre Pantoja (26-5) for the Ultimate Fighting Championshipflyweight title in the co-main event at UFC 296 on Dec. 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “Raw Dawg” has been training with elite bantamweight contenders like Chris Gutierrez and Jonathan Martinez at the Factory X gym in Colorado. However, Royval claims former UFC fighter Youssef Zalal is probably the best of the lot.

“Being on the rise with some of these guys is – like I genuinely don’t think I’d be where I’m at without having the best 135ers around me. And that’s including Youssef Zalal. Youssef Zalal is probably better than all of us, it's just that he’s not getting his opportunity yet,” Pantoja told Sportskeeda MMA.

Zalal was released by the UFC on the back of an 0-3-1 streak which started with a decision loss against featherweight contender Ilia Topuria who is set to face Alexander Volkanovski for the title at UFC 298 on Feb. 17. Royval, who was cornering Zalal for that fight, remembers “The Moroccan Devil” putting on a decent fight against the elite Spaniard, even stealing away the final round. Since his release from the UFC, Zalal has pulled off three consecutive first-round stoppage wins under the Sparta Combat League banner. Royval, like Zalal himself, believes that the 27-year-old will eventually be re-signed by the UFC. While Zalal fought at 145 pounds for most of his UFC career, Royval believes his teammate belongs at bantamweight and expects him to be a factor in that division on his eventual return to the Las Vegas-based promotion.

“I know, he won a round against [Topuria] for sure, f---ing wobbled him. Yeah, I was cornering him for that fight. But that being said, that kid’s super talented and I can’t wait to see when he gets back in the UFC and he gets put in the bantamweight division, he’s gonna take that division by storm quick.”