Joshua Van bested Brandon Royval in a thrilling back-and-forth striking battle tonight at UFC 317 to win by unanimous decision.
Round One
Inside leg kick from Royval. Now a body kick from him and then back to the low kick. Royval continues to work low kicks to the inside and outside of the lead leg of Van.
Van remaining patient for now as he pressures forward but doesn’t throw. Royval with punches, but then Van does fire back and lands cleanly.
Van lands another clean punch. Jab for Royval. Van comes close with a right hand. Inside leg kick for him. Jab for Royval Body punch from Van.
Nice right hand from Van. Jab for Royval. Right hand and left hook from Van. He lands another right and Royval lands too, but is already bleeding from the nose.
Royval staying busy, but Van hits harder when he does let his hands go. Speaking of which, Van knocks Royal off-balance for a moment with punches down the pipe.
Van keeps finding the mark with his sharp boxing ability. Royval is still hanging in there though and being a threat offensively too.
Royval gets in close and Van drills him with a flurry of body strikes. Royval presses forward, but Van counters nicely with a punch.
Round Two
Low kick for Royval. Nice right hook counter from Van. Right hand gets through for Van again. Punch and a body kick from Royval.
Knee strike from Royval. Body kick from him. Royval connects with a right hand. Jab for Van. Uppercut sneaks in from Royval.
Three-piece combo gets through from Royval nicely. Van having to dig in now and he catches Royval. Competitive exchanges here as they both find their range.
Right hands from Van sting Royval. Knee from Van to the body. Royval’s rangey jab doing work. Jab and a left hand for Royval. Van swings back. Left hand for Van.
Hooks for Royval. Van works to the body. Royval presses forward aggressively. One-two from Van. Both men exchanging big blows here. Thumping combo from Van, but Royval is eating everything he’s got and still applying pressure. Van gets through again with punches. Great fight so far.
Round Three
Right hand for Van. Royval feels out with the jab. Left hook on the counter from Van. Brief exchange of punches. Body kick from Royval. Right hand again for Van.
Another right for Van. Jab for Royval. Left from Van and then Royval comes forward with a series of punches. Van lands. Royal punches and then steps just of range to avoid the counter.
Kick for Royval. Punch for Royval and two in response from Van. Van lands again. Royval with a combination. Neither fighter willing to back off here.
Royval with a combo and then a counter from Van forces him to reset. Body-head combo for Van. One-two for him. left hand for Royval. Two punches from Van. Another counter from Van scores. Body kick from Royval.
Royval doubles up on low kicks. Good three-piece combo for Royval. Low kick from Van and then a right over the top. Flurry of punches and a threatening knee from Van.
Side kick from Van is knocking Royval off-balance. He lands again and the crowd is roaring their approval for this fight. Van responds by landing another big punch that floors Royal. The crowd somehow gets even louder as Van tries to finish, but Royval survives until the end of the round.
Decision
This was an absolute war and both fighters stock undoubtedly rises after a performance like that on one of the biggest cards of the year. There can only be one winner though and it has to be Van, who was razor-sharp with his boxing ability, particularly on the counter, and had the biggest moment of the fight when he dropped the tough-as-nails Royval in the dying stages of the fight. Van wins by unanimous decision (29-28 x2, 30-27).
