The UFC returns to Las Vegas for yet another Fight Night weekend. Come 12th October, fans will be able to witness the headline fight between Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira at UFC Vegas 98.
Number 1 ranked Royval will fight against number 5 ranked Tatsuro Taira in the MMA flyweight division. This fight could very well decide who will be the next UFC flyweight title challenger. Alexander Pantoja is the current champion and has successfully defended his belt twice in one year, including against Royval.
Below, we give you a Royval vs Taira UFC Fight Night preview and tell you how to place bets on the Vegas 98 fights.
Vegas 98 Royval vs Taira Preview: Meet the Fighters
Brandon Royval
Brandon Royval made his UFC debut in May 2020 and has quickly risen in the last four years. He has had 16 wins in his career of 23 fights. Out of these, 4 were knockouts, 9 submissions, and 3 split decisions.
So, why is he number one? Because of his recent fights against big names. First, he fought Royval had a rematch with current champion Alexandre Pantoja in December 2023, at UFC 296. This was their second face-off. The two fighters had met for the first time back in 2021, where Royval lost via a rear-naked choke in round two.
Their second fight last December went the distance. The two fighters battled it out for three rounds with a score of 50-45, 50-45, 49-46 going in favour of Pantoja.
However, Royval bounced back by beating former champion Brandon Moreno at the UFC Mexico in February this year. In their first match back in 2022, Moreno won with a total knockout. In this fight, however, Royval entered with more experience and kept pressing forward with body kicks. Moreno responded equally well with left hooks, and by round 4, it was still very much anyone’s fight. Royval finally won in a split decision by the judges after he body-locked Moreno.
Royval’s accuracy was on full display in this fight, allowing him to avenge his earlier loss to Moreno.
This recent win has given him a ranking boost, and he will looking for another triumph in the Vegas Octagon to get another title match.
Brandon Royval Stats
| Team | Mile High Militia |
| Weight class: | Flyweight |
| Weight: | 57 kg (126 lbs) |
| Height: | 175 cm (5’9”) |
| Record: | 16-7-0 (win-loss-draw) |
| Nickname: | Raw Dawg |
| Last fight: | 25 February, 2024 / win |
| Last opponent: | Brandon Moreno |
| DOB: | 16 August 1992 (32 years old) |
| Country: | America |
| Reach: | 68 in |
| Leg reach: | 38.5 in |
| Stance: | Southpaw |
Tatsuro Taira
Now, coming to Tatsuro Taira. While there’s no doubt that it’s Royval who has had big wins recently, Taira too has been making waves at the UFC.
He was a Shooto flyweight champion – a Japan-based mixed martial arts event – in 2021. Taira, later vacated his title when he moved to the UFC in 2022. His first fight was against Carlos Candelario, which Taira won by a unanimous decision.
He has had 16 fights in his stellar UFC career and has won all of them – 5 by knockouts, 7 by submission, and 4 by decisions.
The Japanese star is 24 years old and is the only fighter born in the 2000s to have a UFC headline win earlier this year. He fought Alex Perez – another title challenger – in June at the UFC 93.
Perez initially managed to put the Japanese youngster on the fence. However, Taira turned things around quickly as he fired punches. Undeterred Perez moved in with body shots, wide hooks, and uppercuts, forcing Taira into defensive moves. The match was building up with a lot of excitement when Perez suffered an eye poke, and the fight had to be halted. After that, Perez couldn’t keep up the momentum as Taira landed jabs and low kicks on him. Alex Perez injured his knee when Taira dropped him to the ground. The fight ended immediately after that.
Tatsuro Taira Stats
| Team | Paraestra Okinawa |
| Weight class: | Flyweight |
| Weight: | 56.6 kg (125 lbs) |
| Height: | 170 cm (5’7”) |
| Record: | 11-0-0 (win-loss-draw) |
| Nickname: | n/a |
| Last fight: | 16 June, 2024 / win |
| Last opponent: | Alex Perez |
| DOB: | 27 January 2000 (24 years old) |
| Country: | Japan |
| Reach: | 70 in |
| Leg reach: | 38 in |
| Stance: | Orthodox |
UFC 305 Royval vs Taira Preview: What To Expect
Taira has excellent skills in all areas, especially grappling. He has pulled off seven submissions from both on top and on his back. As seen in his recent fight against Perez, his knockouts can be aggressive.
On the other hand, Royval too is known for wins by submission. He is nicknamed ‘Raw Dawg’ as early in his career, he was famous for his aggressive fights.
Taira holds a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu while Royval holds a black belt in the same sport.
Royval has a takedown defense rate of only 40%, so in order to survive Saturday’s match, he will have to play defensively. Meanwhile, Taira has a hard time defending against a volume of punches, so he will need to change his strategy against Royval, who is two inches taller.
UFC Vegas 98 Fight Cards
Headline Event
- Flyweight: Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira
Main Cards
- Middleweight: Brad Tavares vs. Jun Yong Park
- Lightweight: Grant Dawson vs. Rafa García
- Women’s Strawweight: Cory McKenna vs Julia Polastri
- Welterweight: Daniel Rodriguez vs. Alex Morono
- Middleweight: Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Josh Fremd
Prelim Cards
- Welterweight: Chidi Njokuani vs. Jared Gooden
- Flyweight: CJ Vergara vs. Ramazonbek Temirov
- Featherweight: Jonathan Pearce vs. Pat Sabatini
- Welterweight: Themba Gorimbo vs. Niko Price
- Heavyweight: Chris Barnett vs. Junior Tafa
- Bantamweight: Dan Argueta vs. Cody Haddon
- Flyweight: Clayton Carpenter vs. Lucas Rocha
7Bet Odds
If you would like to familiarize yourself with the odds, 7bet offers various picks on the Royval vs Taira Fight Night, including the undercards. Please be aware that the odds are always being updated, so make sure to check the latest odds before placing a bet.
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