Taira looks to underline title ambitions

Unbeaten Tatsuro Taira will look to underline his UFC flyweight championship ambitions when he faces Brandon Royval in the main event of a UFC Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas, on the morning of Sunday 13 October 2024.

Taira (16-0) has racked up six successive wins since joining the UFC in 2022, most recently stopping former flyweight title contender Alex Perez in June of this year.

The 24-year-old Japanese has set his sights on current flyweight king Alexandre Pantoja: “I want to show my technique, skills, everything I have – I always look to do all of it. My target is Pantoja.”

And Pantoja himself has identified Taira as a likely future opponent: “I really want to see Taira with Royval. The Japanese [are] tough guys,” he explained.

“I have Kyoji Horiguchi in my gym and a couple of more Japanese [fighters] coming for American Top Team training here – Motoya, Juntaro [Ushiku].

“And these guys are very good, [they] have something in [their] body because all these guys are so strong and they keep pushing. That’s good for me. And I know Taira, that guy is a real dude.”

Royval (16-7) fought for the flyweight championship at the end of 2023 but was defeated via unanimous decision by Pantoja. He has since beaten Brandon Moreno via split decision and will hope that becoming the first man to beat Taira would earn him another shot at the belt.

“I know I can win that fight, I know I can beat [Pantoja],” said Royval. “I’m the most dangerous fighter in this division and I want to show that at all times [...] I can be the champion of this division.”

The rest of the main card features Grant Dawson v Rafa Garcia in the lightweight division; Ghanaian Abdul Razak Alhassan takes on fellow middleweight Josh Fremd; and a women’s strawweight bout pits Julia Polastri against Cory McKenna; Daniel Rodriguez faces Alex Morono in the welterweight category; and a middleweight match has Brad Tavares testing himself against Park Jun-yong.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: ROYVAL VS. TAIRA – MAIN CARD

- Main event: Flyweight: Brandon Royval v Tatsuro Taira

- Middleweight: Brad Tavares v Park Jun-yong

- Lightweight: Grant Dawson v Rafa Garcia

- Women’s strawweight: Julia Polastri v Cory McKenna

- Welterweight: Daniel Rodriguez v Alex Morono

- Middleweight: Abdul Razak Alhassan v Josh Fremd