UFC 296: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval: Full video highlights 

Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval locked horns in the co-main event of UFC 296 with the flyweight title on the line. The event took place on December 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.

Coming into the fight, 'The Cannibal' was riding an impressive four-fight win streak that included wins over fighters like Brandon Moreno and Manel Kape. Royval, on the other hand, had won all of his last three encounters and two of them were finishes.

The fight at UFC 296 was a rematch as their first encounter took place in August 2021. In that fight, Pantoja got the better of his opponent and submitted him with a rear-naked choke in the second round of the fight.

Both fighters walked into the T-Mobile Arena dressed in black, looking ready for a thrilling back-and-forth scrap.

Alexandre Pantoja appeared all ready to defend his title for the first time after wrapping his hands in the backstage locker room.

'The Cannibal' did some shadowboxing for the camera. Brandon Royval, on the other hand, was engaged on his phone while getting his hands wrapped backstage.

'Raw Dawg' exuded energy during his walkout to the octagon while Pantoja carried his home country Brazil's flag during his walkout.

The champion had good moments in the opening round as he scored a takedown and landed strikes from the top position.

In the second round, Pantoja landed several heavy blows on Royval and landed multiple takedowns.

'The Cannibal' persisted with his takedown attempts in the third round but Royval also had some moments and landed some hard knee strikes.

In the fourth round, the flyweight champion got hold of Royval's back and attempted to finish the fight with multiple submission attempts. 'Raw Dawg' showed his grit and managed to survive the round.

Royval came off aggressive in the final round and managed to hit the champion multiple times on his feet. But Pantoja stuck to his game plan and again took the fight to the ground with a takedown.

The flyweight title fight went the 25-minute distance at UFC 296 and Alexandre Pantoja retained his title with a unanimous decision win. The three judges scored the contest 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 in favor of the Brazilian.