UFC Vegas 98 Results: Brandon Royval Ends Tatsuro Taira's Undefeated Streak in Fight of The Night

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In fight of the night, Brandon Royval ended the unbeaten streak of Tatsuro Taira during the headliner of UFC Vegas 98: Royval vs. Taira at the UFC Apex Facility in Las Vegas on Saturday (October 12).

The 12-fight card saw 7 fights, including the headliners, go the distance, while five fights ended in stoppages. Among the 5 finishes, three were either knockout (KO) or technical knockout (TKO), and 2 were submission wins.

As mentioned earlier, the main event fight between Royval and Taira picked up the fight of the night award, while Ramazan Temirov and Clayton Carpenter took home an extra USD50K for their respective stoppage wins on the under card. Here is the recap for the UFC on ESPN+ 102 event:

UFC Vegas 98 Recap

No. 1 ranked flyweight Royval and Japan's undefeated No. 5 Taira stepped into a main event to set up the next flyweight title challenger. In the stand up exchanges, Royval showed off how crafty and experienced he is, so Taira went on defense then ended the opening round with a takedown.

In the second, Taira was smart with an early takedown to back take, kept impressive control, and hunted for submissions the entire round. Royval came out in round three with urgent boxing, forcing Taira into the toughest test of his life.

Taira held out, reversed an armbar to back control, and locked on a near submission at the bell. In the first fourth round of his entire MMA career, Taira quickly got back control and hunted for the submission for the entire five minutes, bringing the likely score to 2-2.

Taira shot early in the fifth and final round, but Royval reversed him and swung the fight back into his striking range. Then in the final minute, Royval got the reversal and a back take of his own, finishing the fight in brilliant fashion.

After the hard-fought split decision victory, Royval said, "I thought I was going to get him out in the first round. Taira, you're the man! Taira, if you need anything, I'm there for you. You're going to become a champion and I hope I can help you grow.

"Humble lesson learned. If you need a back up for the (next flyweight title) Edmonton fight, I'll fight either one of them. I have a win over everybody in the top five. I get that title shot next. If Kai Asakura wins, I'm going to Japan and taking it. If Pantoja wins, I'm going to Brazil and taking it."

In the co-main event, Korea's Junyong Park and Fil-Am Brad Tavares faced off as two middleweights very hungry for a ranking. After getting rocked early by Tavares, Park came back with his pressure game, wading through punches to control the cage.

Tavares swung back and returned to the center, but Park changed it up, used his jab well, and damaged with calf kicks. Park put in a strong final round with a takedown and ground control, earning him the split decision on the scorecards.

Following the narrow win, Park said, "The gameplan went pretty well, we stuck to it, but Tavares is a true veteran and he made all the necessary adjustments. I want to give him a round of applause.

"I got hit by that punch (at the beginning of the fight) but that woke me up. I really want a ranked opponent, but if I don't get that, make it a money fight!"

Also on the main card, Chidi Njokuani dominated Jared Gooden to earn a decision win in a welterweight bout after Grant Dawson stopped Rafa Garcia in the second round of a lightweight bout. In the main card opener, Daniel Rodriguez edged Alex Morono for a split decision in a welterweight bout.

Earlier in the preliminary card, Ramazan Temirov, Pat Sabatini, Junior Tafa and Clayton Carpenter claimed stoppage wins in their respective bouts, while Themba Gorimbo, Julia Polastri and Cody Haddon earned decision wins. Here is a look at the final results of UFC Fight Night 244:

UFC Vegas 98 Results

• Flyweight Bout: Brandon Royval (48-47, 48-47) defeated Tatsuro Taira (48-47) by split decision
• Middleweight Bout: JunYong Park (29-28, 29-28) defeated Brad Tavares (29-28) by split decision
• Welterweight Bout: Chidi Njokuani (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) defeated Jared Gooden by unanimous decision
• Lightweight Bout: Grant Dawson defeated Rafa Garcia by TKO (strikes) at 1:42 of Round 2
• Welterweight Bout: Daniel Rodriguez (29-28, 29-28) defeated Alex Morono (29-28) by split decision
• Flyweight Bout: Ramazan Temirov defeated C.J. Vergara by TKO (body shot) at 2:50 of Round 1
• Featherweight Bout: Pat Sabatini defeated Jonathan Pearce by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:06 of Round 1
• Welterweight Bout: Themba Gorimbo (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) defeated Niko Price by unanimous decision
• Heavyweight Bout: Junior Tafa defeated Sean Sharaf by TKO, Round 2, 2:15
• Women's Strawweight Bout: Julia Polastri (29-28, 30-27) defeated Cory McKenna (29-28) by Split Decision
• Bantamweight Bout: Cody Haddon (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) defeated Dan Argueta by unanimous decision
• Flyweight Bout: Clayton Carpenter defeated Lucas Rocha by technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:12 of Round 2