Brandon Royval Upsets Tatsuro Taira in Sensational UFC Main Event

"Raw Dawg" came up short in a flyweight title bout with Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 296 but rebounded with a split decision against former champion Brandon Moreno in February, and after entering the Taira matchup as a sizeable underdog Royval found considerable success with his striking in the opening round.

The second round saw Taira largely dominant his opponent on the mat before Royval took the momentum back in the third frame, although that round did end with "Raw Dawg" fighting off a rear naked choke attempt after he appeared close to finishing the fight with strikes.

Taira rallied to control the action on the ground once again in the fourth, and with the fight seemingly tied two rounds to two heading into the final frame both men absolutely emptied their gas tanks before Royval took a hard-earned split decision.

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The win likely sets Royval up for a second crack at the flyweight belt, which Pantoja will try to defend for a third time when he faces Kai Asakura in the recently-announced co-main event for UFC 310.

The wild flyweight main event closed out a UFC Vegas 98 main card that also featured decision wins from Daniel Rodriguez, Chidi Njokuani, and Jun Yong Park, as well as a violent TKO victory from Grant Dawson.

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