Tomorrow night in the main event of UFC Vegas 98, we are going to see a potential title eliminator in the men’s flyweight division. Former title challenger Brandon Royval (16-7) will look to become the first man to defeat Tatsuro Taira (16-0).
The 24-year-old Taira is getting the biggest test of his career tomorrow night. He made his octagon debut back in 2022 and since then, he’s gone a perfect 6-0 with four finishes. The Japanese star has all the makings of a future world champion. He had a decorated amateur background as well and when you factor that in, he’s 25-0 in MMA.
However, he hasn’t faced a test like he’s facing tomorrow night. “Raw Dawg” Brandon Royval is the real deal. You don’t have to look far to see that, just look at his last performance. Royval went down to UFC Mexico and defeated former flyweight king Brandon Moreno over the course of five rounds. Royval is 4-1 in his last five with the lone loss coming against the current champion Alexandre Pantoja.
UFC Vegas 98 Preview and Prediction
While he has 16 professional bouts and we’ve seen Taira six times inside the octagon, I still feel like there’s some mystery there. His striking is every-improving, but we know how good is grappling is. That said, he really hasn’t been tested by top level competition and he’s going to be tested tomorrow night.
In his last fight against Alex Perez, he lost the first round on all three scorecards and won by TKO after Perez injured his knee on a Taira takedown attempt. Royval is going to be the more polished fighter on the feet at UFC Vegas 98. He’s going to throw a number of different strikes and I expect him to use his length.
In addition, I expect him to be very active off his back. For Taira, I expect him to use his superior strength to get Royval down and keep him down like Alexandre Pantoja did. That said, I’m not convinced he’ll be able to do that over the course of five rounds.
I think Taira is going to suffer his first loss at UFC Vegas 98. I expect a fast start by Taira, but I think he’ll really fade in the championship rounds. During a scramble late, I think Royval locks in a submission and an exhausted Taira will ultimately tap giving Royval his fifth win in his last six fights.
Prediction: Brandon Royval by Submission