Brandon Royval doubts he’ll be impacted by the dreaded elevation fatigue of Mexico City, jokingly says it all comes down to ‘mind state’.
‘Elevation fatigue’ is always a major talking point whenever the UFC holds an event in high altitude locations, with fighters perceived to ‘gas out’ earlier and more often, even those who hadn’t had significant cardio issues before.
The #3 ranked Royval joked on The MMA Hour that elevation fatigue is nothing more than a ‘mind state’, but on a more serious note, explained that his training and living at altitude should prove a major advantage come Saturday night when he faces Brandon Moreno.
Royval isn’t worried about fighting at elevation in Mexico City
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on Wednesday’s episode of The MMA Hour, the 31-year-old flyweight contender explained how growing up and living in Denver, Colorado, means he won’t feel the impact of the higher elevation compared to other UFC athletes.
“I live like 6000 ft up and then I’ve been training up in Evergreen, which is like almost 8000 ft, so I feel like the whole elevation thing, it’s really not a big difference to me.”
The 15-7 American revealed that he “honestly forgot” about the whole elevation difference after training for an hour in Mexico City, and only remembered about the dreaded concept when one of his trainers brought it up:
“I honestly forgot that there was an elevation difference or altitude difference until one of my boys said something like ‘You’re doing good considering the altitude’ and I’m like ‘oh sh- I forgot that was a thing.”
“I’m just blessed enough to live in a mile-high city,” Royval said, as he prepares to face someone known for relentless cardio, Brandon Moreno, this Saturday.
Brandon Royval goes to war with Moreno again this weekend
Brandon Royval faces former champion Brandon Moreno this weekend in the main event of UFC Fight Night 237 in a rematch of a fight from 2020.
Whilst Moreno did come away with the stoppage win in that bout, the contest was marred by a painful shoulder injury that Royval suffered in the early rounds; with his coach having to pop the limb back into place while he was still in the cage.
Royval is now looking to get back to another flyweight championship title fight following a unanimous decision loss to current 125lb king Alexandre Pantoja in December 2023. Moreno’s last fight also ended in a title defeat to Pantoja, also by decision.
Prior to the loss to Pantoja, ‘Raw Dog’ had racked up three impressive wins in a row including finishes of Matt Schnell and Matheus Nicolau, and a split decision victory over Rogerio Bontorin.
Whilst fans are expecting the main event to be extended into the later rounds, both fighters will be wanting a highlight reel finish to secure the next title shot with #2 ranked Amir Albazi out with injury, Albazi was originally scheduled to face Moreno in Mexico.