Brandon Royval defended his spot as the top-ranked flyweight contender on Saturday night, using his boxing to hand Tatsuro Taira his first-ever pro loss.
In one of the more memorable main event UFC bouts of the year, Royval snuck by Taira via split decision at the APEX from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
The flyweight headliner was a clash of styles, with Royval succeeding in the striking and Taira having his best moments on the canvas. The fighters essentially took turns controlling the fight, causing the bout to be tied two rounds apiece as it moved into the final five minutes of the bout.
Royval had a strong opening round, showing his excellent timing as a counter-puncher against Taira. The fight was evened up on scorecards by the next round, as Taira secured a takedown just 30 seconds in and kept control of the fight for minutes that followed.
Rovyal’s best striking arguably came in the third, when he wobbled Taira and came close to finishing the fight with strikes. While Taira found himself in trouble, at one point shelling up while taking ground and pound shots, he was able to briefly take control in a grappling exchange late in the round to recover.
The fourth round played out much like the second, where Taira spent the majority of the round controlling Royval on the ground. The successful bounce-back frame from Taira set up for a dramatic final round, with five minutes determining who would leave the APEX with the first-place spot in UFC’s flyweight rankings.
In a surprising turn of events, Royval started to present a challenge on the ground against Taira while continuing to thrive in stand-up exchanges. He notably reversed a ground position early in the round and was able to close out the fight strong by forcing Taira to defend guillotine choke and rear naked choke attempts.
The final round proved to be enough for Royval to get the nod on the scorecards of Chris Lee and Ron McCarthy, who both had the fight as a close 48-47 score. The sole scorecard that favored Taira saw him earn the first round, and then go on to also notch the second and fourth frames.
Despite heading into the fight as a noticeable underdog, Royval mentioned afterward that he was expecting a shorter and more dominant night at the office.
“I thought I was going to take him to school, I’mma be honest,” Royval said during his post-fight interview. “I thought that wasn’t going to be a close fight. I thought I was going to be out of here in the first round.”
Royval’s win on Saturday will keep him as the promotion’s first-place flyweight. While he lost a one-sided title shot to Alexandre Pantoja late last year, a win over former champ Brandon Moreno earlier this year kept him as one of the top names in the weight class.
After another high-profile main event win, Royval set his sights strictly on receiving a second crack at the championship. He can no longer be the next man to face Pantoja, as the MMA world learned Saturday that Pantoja will meet Kai Asakura in December, but Royval believes the next time he fights should be for the title.
“Title shot next, that’s the only discussion,” he said.
Saturday night’s result brings an end to the impressive 16-fight undefeated record of Taira. The 24-year-old previously attained six wins since entering the UFC roster in 2022, bringing him up to fifth in the 125-pound division’s rankings. He won his first-ever main event appearance earlier this year, stopping Alex Perez in the second round due to an injury sustained during a takedown sequence.
In the co-main event of the night, middleweight talent Park Jun-yong returned to the win column with a split decision over UFC vet Brad Tavares. The victory gets back some momentum to “The Iron Turtle,” who had a four-fight winning streak stopped by Andre Muniz in late 2023.
Here are the quick results from Saturday’s card:
Main Card (7:00PM EDT / 4:00PM PDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 12: Brandon Royval def. Tatsuro Taira via Decision, Split
Bout 11: Park Jun-yong def. Brad Tavares via Decision, Split
Bout 10: Chidi Njokuani def. Jared Gooden via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 9: Grant Dawson def. Rafa Garcia via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 1:42)
Bout 8: Daniel Rodriguez def. Alex Morono via Decision, Split
Preliminary Card (4:00PM EDT / 1:00PM PDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 7: Ramazan Temirov def. CJ Vergara via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:50)
Bout 6: Pat Sabatini def. Jonathan Pearce via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 4:06)
Bout 5: Themba Gorimbo def. Niko Price via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 4: Junior Tafa def. Sean Sharaf via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 2:15)
Bout 3: Julia Polastri def. Cory McKenna via Decision, Split
Bout 2: Cody Haddon def. Dan Argueta via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 1: Clayton Carpenter def. Lucas Rocha via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 2, 2:12)
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