UFC Vegas 98 featured strong performances from a variety of fighters. That includes fighters in title contender along with UFC debutants. (Denny Medley-Imagn Images)
UFC Vegas 98: Five Things We Learned
UFC Vegas 98 is over. The event featured a handful of strong performances, including fights with title implications, prospects, and more. This leaves us with a bunch of important lessons. Here are five things we learned at UFC Vegas 98.
Brandon Royval Continues To Level Up
In the UFC Vegas 98 main event, Brandon Royval picked up a decision over Tatsuro Taira. This performance showed Royval’s continuous improvement.
This fight looked vastly different depending on that round. In rounds one, three, and five, Royval managed to get in poor grappling positions and cleanly outstruck Taira. Royval showed his boxing skills while overwhelming Taira with pace.
The fight was much different in rounds two and four. In those rounds, Taira got into advantageous grappling positions and controlled the entire round. That was not enough to win him the fight because Royval defended against submission attempts and cleanly won the aforementioned three rounds.
This fight showed growth for Royval. In previous fights, Royval struggled to defend takedowns and could be held down. In this fight, he showed an improved ability to defend takedowns while being able to work to his feet. It was not a perfect performance, but the previous version of Royval would not have had as much success.
This is Royval’s second consecutive performance that showed his elite potential. The fact that he is continuously improving provides optimism that he reach his championship potential.
Tatsuro Taira Is Not Ready For Championship Fights
On the opposite of the UFC Vegas 98 main event, Taira showed some of the flaws in his skills. At 24, it is not the end of the world, but he there is now a clear list of improvements he needs to make.
Taira was simply not good enough to compete on the feet. Defensively, he was way too hittable. Royval is a good boxer but Taira’s head sat on the centerline and he was getting punished for it. On top of that, he was not good enough offensively to get any respect. Royval was able to pressure with dealing with repercussions. This also made it more difficult for Taira to set up his takedowns.
It should also be noted that Taira struggled in the cardio department. I would not call that a serious concern moving forward; however, he could use improvement in that area.
I do not think it is time to sell stock on Taira. Instead, I think this is an important lesson that he needs to learn. If he responds properly, he could reach the championship level in a few years.
Chidi Njokuani Has Life At Welterweight
At UFC Vegas 98, Chidi Njokuani defeated Jared Gorden. The victory is Njokuani’s second consecutive win since moving down to welterweight.
Njokuani dropped to welterweight after losing three consecutive middleweight fights. In the lower weight class, he has reignited his UFC career. Previously, it looked like he was in danger of being cut. Now, he is on a win streak.
Njokuani has done a good job of adjusting his skill set for the welterweight division. In recent fights, he has found a lot of success in the clinch. In that realm, he can land damaging elbows and knees. That has held him grind out wins against fighters who are unwilling to strike from a distance.
It appears like the weight cut down to welterweight has also helped Njokuani’s gas tank. I doubt he suddenly has elite cardio, but it seems good enough to win three-round fights.
Ramazon Temirov Is A Spark For The Flyweight Division
Ramazan Temirov made a statement in his UFC debut with a knockout victory against CJ Vergara.
The UFC flyweight division is currently in a strong place. The UFC Vegas 98 main event is evidence of that. That said, it is always from when a prospect makes their debut and provides the division with a fun spark. That is exactly what Temirov did against Vergara.
Temirov showed exactly what makes him exciting, aggressiveness and power. In this fight, he landed a massive hook that hurt Vergara. After, he proceeded to swarm his hurt opponent and finished the fight.
I am not ready to make a bold claim about Temirov’s future. What I will say is that he is going to be a fun and exciting addition to the roster. If he reaches the rankings, he has the potential to get into fun scraps. Fans should be excited about this signing.
On the UFC Vegas 98 prelims, Cody Haddon had a great performance against Dan Argueta. The UFC debutant dominated the fight and walked away with a clear decision victory.
Haddon did a lot of outstanding work in this fight. Argueta is not an easy opponent for a UFC debutant. Entry-level fighters can rarely produce that level of wrestling upside. That did not matter in this fight, however. Haddon defended Argueta’s grappling and cleanly outstruck him. Over the course of three rounds, he landed the more damaging strikes while also landing much more volume.
Haddon was a sensational prospect coming off Dana White’s Contender Series . Prior to his UFC debut, I had him as the number three prospect from this season which made him a top-tier prospect. It’s not ideal that he made his debut before the season ended, but he has already lived up to his DWCS hype.
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