In a wild and thrilling duel between top-five flyweights, former title challenger Brandon Royval sent a vocal message to the powers that be that he is most deserving of the next shot at the belt.
Royval (17-7) rallied in Round 5 to stay off the ground amid the grappling threat of Tatsuro Taira to edge out the 24-year-old Japanese prospect via split decision in an epic styles contrast that saw both fighters take turns dominating the terms of the fight. Royval's striking ultimately won out as two judges scored it 48-47 for him while the third had it 48-47 for Taira (16-1).
After the fight, Royval went out of his way to share effusive praise for Taira, his former sparring partner, and offered to help train him in the future. Royval, 32, who lost a decision to champion Alexandre Pantoja last December, also revealed he was far too overconfident and felt, despite entering as the betting underdog, that an early knockout was coming.
"I thought I was going to take him to school, I'll be honest," Royval said. "I thought that wasn't even going to be a close fight. I thought that would be over in the first round.
"Humble lessons learned. That kid is going to be a f---ing champion and I swear to God, I will do anything to help him get that one day. You are going to become a champion and I hope I can help you one day, bro."
Royval dominated the opening round by keeping the action on the feet. He routinely pieced up Taira with combinations and stiff jabs to expose his opponent's glaring lack of head movement. But Round 2 created an alternating pattern as Taira showcased his grappling wizardry and explosive transitions to completely control Royval after taking him down.
ROYVAL HAD TAIRA HURT 😳 #UFCVegas98 pic.twitter.com/fCBKzdg7i8
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 13, 2024
Suddenly, Round 3 put the bout in fight of the year consideration as Royval not only owned Taira on the feet, he appeared on the verge of stopping him as bloodied his opponent's nose with a swarming level of combinations. But Taira wouldn't stop searching for desperate takedown attempts to survive and he eventually parlayed a successful one into taking Royval's back and threatening with a choke in the closing seconds.
Almost on queue, Taira took back control of the fight by spending the majority of Round 4 wearing Royval out in dominant grappling positions. But it was Royval's relentlessness in Round 5, along with his improvements in takedown defense, which saw him take a chaotic final round.
The win was Royval's second straight after avenging a loss to former champion Brandon Moreno via split decision over five rounds in February. The loss, meanwhile, the first for Taira in seven walks to the Octagon.
"I have a winner over everyone in the top five. I should get that title shot next," Royval said. "That's the only f---ing discussion. I beat everybody in the top five of that f---ing division. Who the f--- else? Who the f--- else?"
