Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira led the show in Las Vegas on Saturday with their 'Fight of the Year' candidate in the main event, but other relevant fighters competed as well. The Sporting News' Val Dewar sat down to project the next opponent for the martial artists of UFC Vegas 98.
Brandon Royval
Brandon Royval looked better than ever in his decision victory over one-time training partner Tatsuro Taira at the UFC Apex, winning a split decision which really should have been unanimous. With his vast improvements in defensive wrestling (which I elaborated on here ) and now two wins as an underdog against top flyweights, Royval definitely deserves another title shot.
Even though the man who beat him twice is still ruling the roost at 125-lbs, Royval's new wrinkles mean that the matchup against Alexandre Pantoja could look much different this time around. Pantoja faces UFC newcomer and RIZIN champion Kai Asakura at UFC 310 in December. 'Raw Dawg' would be within his rights to wait around for a title shot, but immediately after his win against Taira he was already calling for a short notice matchup if either main even fighter for UFC Edmonton, which is in three weeks, pulls out.
The other option for the factoryX product is Kai Kara-France. Kara-France is coming off of a big win over Steve Erceg, who almost dethroned Pantoja himself, and would be on a two-fight win streak if not for poor judging in his fight vs Amir Albazi. Royval defeated the New Zealand-based fighter back in 2020, but enough time has passed that making them fight in a title eliminator also makes sense.
Due to the talent-rich pool at the top of the flyweight division, I am hesitant to predict Brandon to get a title shot next. If Asakura wins against Pantoja then it would be almost a sure thing for Royval, but with two months before that fight takes place it seems likely that an "anytime, anyplace" fighter like Royval will take another fight, and Kai is the most likely option.
Royval's Next Fight: vs Kara-France 2
Tatsuro Taira
Young Japanese grappling sensation Tatsuro Taira lost his zero at the hands of Brandon Royval but showed such skill that his foe said Taira will undoubtedly become a champ in the future. At age 24, he has all the time in the world.
After his first defeat, it makes sense for Taira to take a small step back in the rankings. There are several other semi-recent additions to the UFC roster making waves at flyweight of late, and the highest ranked other than Taira is the former title challenger from Australia, #8 flyweight Steve Erceg.
Erceg lost for the first time since his second pro fight when he was defeated by Pantoja before his follow-up knockout loss to Kai Kara-France which represented his first-ever time being finished. The 29-year-old is still enormously skilled, with some of the best fundamentals in the division in all realms of MMA.
Fighting the #5 flyweight in Taira makes too much sense and would be an excellent 'Fight Night' main event, much like Royval vs Taira was. One of these talented fighters can bounce back and begin to make a run towards the title again, while the other will have to dust themselves off and keep trying to get back in the win column.
Taira's Next Fight: vs Steve Erceg
Rest of Card
Chidi Njokuani vs Phil Rowe : Many speculated that Njokuani would struggle with the sizable cut to make 170-lbs, but he is now 2-0 back at welterweight. He is ready for a step up in competition now that his three-fight losing streak is behind him, and fellow knockout artist Phil Rowe makes too much sense as an opponent.
Grant Dawson vs Benoit St. Denis : Dawson resided in the top 15 at lightweight for a while before suffering a first-round knockout loss to King Green in a main event opportunity. With two wins under his belt since, including ending the win streak of Rafa Garcia, Dawson is ready to fight into the rankings again. Benoit St. Denis is the only fighter at the fringe of the rankings on a losing streak, so that fight makes perfect sense.
Daniel Rodriguez vs Themba Gorimbo : After losing three in a row to Neil Magny, Ian Garry, and Kelvin Gastelum, Rodriguez bounced back with his split decision win over Alex Morono on Saturday. He would be a great test for a rising fighter like Themba Gorimbo, who won his fourth consecutive fight at UFC Vegas 98 and is ready for a step up in competition.
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