UFC FIGHT NIGHT PREDICTION: BRANDON ROYVAL VS TATSURO TAIRA

Saturday, October 12, 2024

04:00 PM ET

UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Streaming: TNT SPORTS, ESPN+

Welcome to another Saturday with activities in the Octagon. The Flyweight division presents the Last main card fight of thirteen scheduled for the day between [#2 FLW] Brandon Royval and [#7 FLW] Tatsuro Taira. This fight made the headliner with both fighters on their sixteen wins. All odds are available via fightodds.io.

FIGHTERS BREAKDOWN

BRANDON ROYVAL

Brandon Royval has had eight years of professional fights and has a professional record of sixteen wins. He joined UFC in 2020 and has won six times and lost thrice. His last bout lost was against Alexandre Pantoja on December 18th 2023, via unanimous decision. He was born in  Denver, Colorado and last fought on February 24, 2024 in UFC. He lost the chance to claim the UFC Flyweight Championship at UFC 296. This bout had Brandon as the underdog by the bookies against Brandon Moreno which ended by Split Decision. His win against Matheus Nicolau at the UFC Fight Night won the UFC Fight Night Performance of the Night after he threw a knee and punches to score a Technical Knockout right before the half the scheduled time for the first round.

UFC 274 presented Brandon on the Preliminary Card against Matt Schnell in May 2022. This bout ended via Guillotine Choke submission and won the UFC 274 Fight of the Night Award. The “Raw Dawg” won the LFA Vacant Flyweight Championship against Nate Williams and Kick Down Bantamweight Championship against Isaac Johnson. Aside from being on UFC Promotions, Brandon had a successful career under Legacy Fight Alliance (LFA) and World Series of Fighting (WSOF). 

TATSURO TAIRA

Tatsuro was the moderate favorite for the UFC Fight Night main event bout against Alex Perez. This bout was held June 15, 2024 in UFC and ended by knee injury stemming from a takedown  in favor of Tatsuro Taira. He was able to win the UFC Performance of the Night award. The Japanese fighter has been on a sixteen winning streak since the start of his professional career. Most of his successes were via submission and he has won two belts through it. The first came on November 25, 2018 against Ryo Oyakawa where he had to defend his Tournament Championship while the other was on June 3, 2021 against Ryuya Fukuda where he challenged for the Shooto Flyweight Championship and won via Triangular Choke Submission. 

He joined UFC in 2022 and has fought six times. Previously he was in Shooto Promotions between 2018 to 2021 and fought nine times. He won against Jesus Aguilar and CJ Vergara via submission. Both feats won the Performance of the Night award. Tatsuro won on the preliminary card on UFC 290 against Edgar Cháirez via unanimous decision. The fighters who he won against at the Shooto Promotions were Jared Almazan, Kiyotaka Shimizu, Yoshiro Maeda, Yamato Takagi, Yuto Sekiguchi, Takahiro Kohori and Yo Otake.

WHAT TO EXPECT?

Both fighters have a pedigree for themselves. Tatsuro Taira has won against high top ranked fighters like Alex Perez who had 18 more fights than Taira. He has repeated this feat against top fighters such as Ryuya Fukuda and CJ Vergara  with more fighting experience. Brandon followed the same pattern, defeating top fighters like Joby Sanchez, Tim Elliott, Nate Williams and Kai Kara-France. But he has lost more than thrice facing top fighters. Taira is a younger fighter and his body is still in the winning ways since he last fought three months ago. This bout would not be any different. Judges won’t have a say in this bout. I see this fight not going the distance.

TATSURO TAIRA TO WIN AND UNDER 3.5 ROUNDS

TATSURO TAIRA TO WIN BY SUBMISSION IN ROUND 2

Joshua Okeke

Joshua Okeke’s journey in sports writing began with lively debates about football’s greatest players, eventually leading to a career with top publications in the US and India. His work has been featured on the front pages of newspapers like Nordonia Hills, praised for its clarity and engagement. Specializing in SEO, sports analytics, video editing, and digital content management, he crafts articles that resonate with fans, simplifying complex topics. Committed to helping aspiring writers and promoting remote opportunities in journalism, he shares practical advice on LinkedIn while pursuing a master’s in Mining Geophysics.