LAS VEGAS – Alexandre Pantoja is still champion, and now two-for-two against Brandon Royval.

In the UFC 296 co-main event, Pantoja (27-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) defeated Royval (15-7 MMA, 5-3 UFC) via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) to retain the promotion’s flyweight title. The bout took place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

For much of the five-round bout, Pantoja dominated Royval in the wrestling department. The crowd wasn’t the most thrilled with the decision-making by the champion, but it was effective.

After two rounds that largely consisted of Pantoja blanketing Royval on the ground, the fighters opened up – and there was more action – in Round 3. Pantoja stunned Royval on the feet twice over those five minutes. He sought an arm-triangle choke that Royval reversed. Pantoja quickly powered out of any danger.

Into the championship rounds, the fight went. Pantoja got another quick takedown on Royval and eventually worked to his back – seeking another rear-naked choke attempt. Although the body triangle was locked, Pantoja was unable to get a proper grip. He was close on one occasion that got a rise out of the crowd, but Royval broke through it.

Royval found his first significant amount of offense in the fight at the end of Round 4 when he reversed position on Pantoja and landed some ground-and-pound. Rather than defend the blows, Pantoja sought a leg submission, which opened him up for more punches. Royval’s success only lasted a handful of seconds before time expired.

The final round was Royval’s best. He appeared the fresher fighter in the opening minutes and tagged Pantoja with punches before being taken down. Royval wall-walked up but Pantoja dragged him back again.

The victory marks Pantoja’s first title defense. He won the title by split decision against Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 in July. Pantoja has now won four fights in a row.

Royval has a three-fight winning streak snapped. He also lost a fight vs. Pantoja in August 2021. That one was by second-round submission.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 296 results include:

• Alexandre Pantoja def. Brandon Royval via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) – to retain flyweight title

• Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Stephen Thompson

• Paddy Pimblett def. Tony Ferguson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

• Josh Emmett def. Bryce Mitchell via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:57

• Alonzo Menifield def. Dustin Jacoby via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

• Irene Aldana def. Karol Rosa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

• Cody Garbrandt def. Brian Kelleher via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 3:42

• Ariane Lipski def. Casey O’Neill via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 1:18

• Tagir Ulanbekov def. Cody Durden via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:25

• Andre Fili def. Lucas Almeida via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:32

• Shamil Gaziev def. Martin Buday via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:56

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie