One of the best fights in 2024 happened at the UFC APEX this past Saturday. No. 1 Brandon Royval delivered his own Roy Jones Jr “Ya’ll must’ve forgot” moment when he beat No. 5 Tatsuro Taira by a split decision (48-47, 48-47, and 47-48). Royval was the +240 underdog on DraftKings Sportsbook. “Raw Dawg” extended his win streak to two, winning five of his past six fights.
Taira completed six of his 15 takedown attempts, totaling over 12 minutes of control time on the ground. But when both fighters were on their feet, Royval dominated those exchanges. Royval landed 124 significant strikes compared to Taira’s 42. Royval surprisingly took Taira down three times and had three submission attempts while having two minutes of control time. Early in this fight, it was easy to tell who the 24-year-old prospect and the 32-year-old veteran was.
Royval moved to 7-3 in the UFC, and Saturday was the third fight he won via split decision. Before the contest, Royval was +450 to win this fight by decision. Royval has beaten six of the top 15 fighters in the flyweight division and has won over three of the top five guys. But now that Royval has defeated one of the best prospects in the division, what should he do next?
- Winner of Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura (Co-Main event at UFC 310 on December 7)
This is a quick and easy decision on who Royval should face next. By staying active and taking on everyone the UFC puts in front of him, he has deserved and earned another title shot. Royval recently lost to current champion Pantoja at UFC 296 in December 2023, but he has beat former champion No. 2 Brandon Moreno and No. 5 Taira since then. Pantoja beat Royval by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring it 50-45 and the final judge giving it 49-46. This was by no means a close fight, but Royval has made the most of his recent opportunities and now should be rewarded for his success.
If newcomer and former Rizin champion Asakura wins, it would be a fresh opponent for Royval. Recently, in the UFC, we have seen fighters get title shots doing much less than what Royval has done lately. Royval should not have to fight a new opponent ranked outside the top five; at worst, he should wait for a title shot.
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