Top flyweights Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira will vie for a possible title shot in the main event of a UFC Fight Night this fall.
On October 12, two of the world's best at 125 pounds will have their respective second headliners of the year thus far, with former title challenger and #1-ranked contender Royval tasked with blemishing the perfect record of Taira if he's to stake his claim for a trilogy with Alexandre Pantoja.
This fight was initially leaked by Bradley Martyn, who posted an image of the UFC’s matchmaking wall on social media, and later confirmed by Eurosport Nederland's Marcel Dorff.
Royval, Taira Target Title Shot With UFC Main Event Win
When they make the walk for a five-round card-topper later this year, both Royval and Taira will look to ride the momentum from key results in 2024 all the way to the gold.
Royval (16-7) closed out his 2023 with an unsuccessful first title bid on MMA's biggest stage, falling short on the scorecards against Pantoja at UFC 296. With that result marking his second setback to "The Cannibal," it appeared "Raw Dawg" would be in for a lengthy journey back to the belt. But this past February, Royval capitalized on a late-notice opportunity to run it back with Brandon Moreno, avenging his 2020 loss to the former champ by way of split decision in Mexico City.
Taira (16-0), meanwhile, headlined a UFC Fight Night at the Apex four months later. After three wins last year to climb toward contention, the Japanese up-and-comer benefitted from a serious knee injury to Alex Perez this past June, which gave him the TKO stoppage in round two and paved the way for his rise to #5 in the flyweight pecking order.
With this addition, the current fights expected to take place at the UFC Fight Night on October 12 are as follows:
- Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira (flyweight main event)
- Cody Garbrandt vs. Miles Johns (bantamweight)
- Brad Tavares vs. Jungyong Park (middleweight)
- Themba Gorimbo vs. Niko Price (welterweight)
- Polyana Viana vs. Cory McKenna (women's strawweight)
- Josh Fremd vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan (middleweight)
- Grant Dawson vs. Rafa Garcia (lightweight)
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Chris Barnett (heavyweight)
- Chidi Njokuani vs. Jared Gooden (welterweight)
- Clayton Carpenter vs. Lucas Rocha (flyweight)
