UFC Fight Night 237 results: Royval defeats Moreno, Ortega forces Rodriguez to submit

The five-round bout was equally competitive and ended in a split decision loss for the Mexican by scores of 49-46 and 47-48 twice.

In a post-fight interview, the American challenged the current champion of the division, Alexandre Pantoja, from whom he failed to take the title last December, losing to the Brazilian by unanimous decision.

In the second most important event of the event, former UFC featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega, unbeaten in more than three years, proved he is the division’s fourth-ranked fighter for a reason with an early victory over former interim champion Yair Rodriguez.

Already in the cage, Ortega, warming up, landed badly during a jump, twisting his ankle, and started the fight with a slight limp, as a result of which Rodriguez already at the start of the fight gave his opponent a real beating in the stand-up, however, the American managed to collect himself and took the end of the first round, moving the fight to the floor.

After the break Ortega continued to stick to his chosen tactics, dominating his opponent in the parterre, and at the beginning of the third five-minute period put a spectacular point in the match, finishing the Mexican with an arm-triangle choke.

Recall that Brian Ortega returned to the octagon nineteen months after losing to Yair Rodriguez by technical knockout, dislocating his shoulder in the first round.

Other results include early wins for Manuel Torres, Raoni Barcelos, Edgar Chairez, Ronaldo Rodriguez and Muhammad Naimov.

The flyweight fight between Ricky Turcios and Raul Rosas Junior was canceled just before the fighters entered the octagon due to the latter’s ailment. Representatives of the organization said that the fight will be added to the card of UFC Fight Night 238, which will be held in a week in Las Vegas.

All results from UFC Fight Night 237.