5 exciting fighters who are flying under the radar going into UFC 274

#2. Brandon Royval – UFC flyweight

Brandon Royval could find himself in flyweight title contention in the near future

UFC 274’s preliminary card doesn’t feature many fighters who might impact their division’s title picture in the near future, but the one exception to that is flyweight contender Brandon Royval, who faces off against Matt Schnell.

‘Raw Dawg’ only debuted in the octagon in mid-2020, but he’s already made a name for himself not only as one of the more exciting fighters to be competing at 125 pounds, but also one of the most talented and dangerous, too.

Royval’s last two bouts came on Fight Night cards. Had his clash with Schnell featured on one of the weaker events we’ve been treated to in recent weeks, it’s likely that he’d have garnered far more attention.

After all, ‘Raw Dawg’ holds a recent win over Kai Kara-France, who is currently one of the hottest fighters in the flyweight division and who has been pegged as a future title challenger.

So if Royval can overcome Schnell this weekend, particularly if he can finish him off as he did to Kara-France and Tim Elliott, he might not be too far off a shot at the gold in his own right.

That means he definitely deserves more attention, but due to this weekend’s event’s stacked nature, he’s flying under the radar for sure.

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#1. Andre Fialho – UFC welterweight

Andre Fialho is taking his bout with Cameron VanCamp this weekend on late notice

After he knocked out Miguel Baeza in his most recent UFC bout, winning a $50k performance bonus in the process, the idea that Portuguese welterweight prospect Andre Fialho might be flying under the radar coming into his next fight seemed laughable.

However, few fans, even hardcore ones, seem to have realized that Fialho is competing on this weekend’s preliminary card, although there is a fair explanation for that.

Incredibly, Fialho’s fight with Cameron VanCamp was only added to the event late last week, meaning that the two fighters will be stepping into the octagon on around eight days’ notice when all is said and done.

Given that the Portuguese’s fight with Baeza only took place on April 16, the idea that he’s fighting on such a quick turnaround, particularly as he isn’t stepping in as a late-notice replacement, is pretty crazy in itself.

The fact that he’s also facing VanCamp, who is making his UFC debut off the back of four straight wins, is even more remarkable. Essentially, this is a high-risk, low-reward fight for Fialho.

However, given his excellent showing against Baeza, he’ll clearly be hoping to keep the momentum going in this clash. If he can perform that well again, particularly if he wins another bonus award, then it’ll be impossible to ignore him again going forward.