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Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Royval vs Taira
Breaking Down All The Action Set To Hit The Octagon On Saturday Night At The UFC APEX
By E. Spencer Kyte, on X @spencerkyte
Following another eventful trip to Delta Center in Salt Lake City for UFC 307, the Octagon returns home to Las Vegas for an event headlined by flyweight standouts Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira.
Let’s dive into the pairings set to make the walk this weekend!
Main Event: Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira
Top 5 flyweights Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira face off in a matchup where each man is eager to continue making their case for a title opportunity in the not-too-distant future.
Royval, who came up short in his championship bid last year at UFC 296, bounced back with a split decision win over Brandon Moreno in Mexico City back in February. The 32-year-old has exclusively fought Top 15 opponents since landing in the UFC midway through 2020, posting a 6-3 record that includes wins over Kai Kara-France and Matheus Nicolau.
The 24-year-old Taira went 10-0 before reaching the UFC and has added six additional victories in as many starts since to move to 16-0 overall. He’s earned finishes in four of those six wins, most recently collecting a second-round stoppage over former title challenger Alex Perez in June when the California’s knee buckled as Taira looked to off balance him from a backpack position.
Between this matchup and the upcoming contest between Moreno and Amir Albazi in Edmonton, the upper tier of the flyweight division is going to be front-and-center over the next few weeks. This is without question a critical fight in the battle for position in the pecking order, but on top of that, it’s also just an outstanding fight that is going to answer a lot of questions about where the young Japanese fighter stands, and just where his ceiling may rest.
Other Main Card Contests
Brad Tavares vs JunYong Park
Brad Tavares and JunYong Park meet in a clash between tenured middleweights in the co-main event of the evening.
A staple on the roster since his time on Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter, Tavares will be aiming to replicate the result just put forth by his housemate Court McGee last weekend in Utah as he looks to get back into the win column. He’s gone 1-3 over his last four outings, having been stopped in each of his last two setbacks, but carries a significant edge in strength of schedule into this contest.
Park’s time in the UFC has been marked by extended periods of success following each defeat, as he won three straight following his debut loss to Anthony Hernandez, and four straight after falling to Gregory Rodrigues. That run was halted by his split decision loss to Andre Muniz last time out, so it will be interesting to see if “The Iron Turtle” will stick with the pattern and start another positive run of results this weekend.
These are two staples of the middleweight division and both are notoriously tough and proud competitors with a history of leaving everything in the Octagon each time out, so expect no different here.
Grant Dawson vs Rafa Garcia
Grant Dawson and Rafa Garcia share the Octagon in this battle of lightweights currently living on the outskirts of the Top 15 that are aiming to change neighborhoods in 2025.
One year ago, Dawson rode a nine-fight unbeaten streak since arriving in the UFC into his first headlining assignment, only to be felled by Bobby Green in just 33 seconds. He bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Joe Solecki at UFC 302, advancing to 21-2-1 overall in the process while avoiding any kind of multiple fight slide.
Garcia competes for the first time since April 2023 after dealing with a significant knee injury suffered last July. The 30-year-old, who trains under Cub Swanson and his burgeoning group of talents, has earned consecutive victories and wins in four of his last five, with his only setback coming against veteran stalwart Drakkar Klose back at UFC 277.
Will Dawson take another step towards a return to the Top 15 or will Garcia become just the third man to best him and advance his chances of climbing into the rankings next year?
Julia Polastri vs Cory McKenna
Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) alums Julia Polastri and Cory McKenna meet in this main card strawweight fixture.
Polastri steps in for fellow Brazilian Polyana Viana, making the second start of her rookie campaign after punching her ticket to the promotion in her second Contender Series appearance last September. She landed on the wrong side of a unanimous decision verdict in her debut in June against Josefine Knutsson, which snapped a four-fight winning streak.
A member of the DWCS Class of 2020, McKenna ended a 15-month absence in March, returning on a two-fight winning streak in a matchup with Brazilian jiu jitsu ace Jaqueline Amorim. After winning three of her first four UFC appearances, “Poppins” was tapped out in 98 seconds after leaving her arm inside too long while in top position and getting stuck in an armbar.
Both women are still young in age — Polastri is 26, McKenna is 25 — and relatively young in terms of their experience, as well, as Polastri has logged 16 appearances to McKenna’s 11 to date. Each has shown flashes at times, but now is the time to start turning those sporadic moments into sustained success in order to start building some momentum in the deep 115-pound weight class.
Daniel Rodriguez vs Alex Morono
Tenured welterweights Daniel Rodriguez and Alex Morono square off in what should be an entertaining and technical clash between two battle-tested competitors.
Quickly approaching his 38th birthday, Rodriguez arrives looking to snap a three-fight slide and pick up his first victory in two years. Last time out, “D-Rod” was dealt a bad hand, as his matchup with Kelvin Gastelum in Saudi Arabia was shifted to a middleweight contest at the 11th hour when the former TUF winner had issues with his weight cut.
Morono has alternated wins and losses over his last six outings, besting Matthew Semelsberger, Tim Means, and Court McGee, while falling to Santiago Ponzinibbio, Joaquin Buckley, and Niko Price. The Fortis MMA man and leader of the team at Gracie Barra The Woodlands has never lost consecutive contests in his 35-fight career, and surely has no designs on allowing that to change here.
Abdul Razak Alhassan vs Josh Fremd
After competing on the same card earlier this year in Denver, Abdul Razak Alhassan and Josh Fremd share the Octagon in the middleweight main card opener this weekend.
The 39-year-old Alhassan left his last fight livid after the bout was halted prematurely and ruled a no contest after he struck Cody Brundage in the back of the head with multiple elbows, rendering the Factory X man unable to continue. Though he still carries a 100 percent finishing rate, wins have been much harder to come by as of late for the Ghanaian, who has gone 2-5 with that one no contest verdict over his last eight fights.
Fremd’s six-fight UFC career has featured results in pairs — two losses, followed by two wins, followed by two more losses. Last time out, the Pittsburgh native was dragged to the canvas and kept there for 15 minutes by Andre Petroski, dropping him to 11-6 overall for his career.
Alhassan is an “all gas, no brakes” competitor that throws everything with malicious intent, aiming to end things as quickly as possible, while Fremd is a classic jack-of-all-trades who will look to use that diversity and his considerable height advantage to help him snap his current slide on Saturday. This is a classic “how long it goes will give you a good idea of who wins” situations where an early finish favors Alhassan and making it past the midway point of the fight shifts things in Fremd’s favor.
Preliminary Card Fights
Chidi Njokuani vs Jared Gooden
Welterweight finishers Chidi Njokuani and Jared Gooden close out the preliminary card slate on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Njokuani transitioned back to the 170-pound weight class for the first time in his UFC tenure last time out, earning a split decision win over Rhys McKee to halt a three-fight slide. Gooden earned a call back to the Octagon in March of 2023, falling to Carlston Harris by decision on short notice before getting back into the win column with a submission finish of Wellington Turman in December.
CJ Vergara vs Ramazan Temirov
DWCS alum CJ Vergara welcomes Ramazan Temirov to the UFC in bout that highlights the growing depth of the flyweight division.
Vergara has gone 3-3 through his first six trips into the Octagon, entering here off a loss to Asu Almabayev and brandishing a 12-5-1 record overall. Temirov touches down in Las Vegas on a nine-fight winning streak, though his debut this weekend represents a meaningful step up in competition for the native of Uzbekistan.
Jonathan Pearce vs Pat Sabatini
Jonathan Pearce and Pat Sabatini clash in a matchup of two experienced featherweight grapplers looking to get things moving in the right direction.
Five straight wins to begin his time in the 145-pound weight class carried Pearce into the rankings, but consecutive losses to Joanderson Brito and David Onama have the DWCS graduate searching for answers. Sabatini had similar early success, winning his first four UFC appearances, but has gone 1-2 since, returning here for the first time since his UFC 295 knockout loss to Diego Lopes.
Themba Gorimbo vs Niko Price
Consistently entertaining welterweights Themba Gorimbo and Niko Price share the Octagon on Saturday’s prelims.
The 33-year-old Gorimbo, whose profile skyrocketed following a viral moment with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, returns to Las Vegas searching for his fourth straight win, having most recently scored a unanimous decision win over Ramiz Brahimaj in May. Price snapped a two-fight skid with a unanimous decision victory over Alex Morono in June, marking just the second time in 16 wins that he’s gone the distance.
Chris Barnett vs Junior Tafa
Fan favorite Chris Barnett returns to action for the first time over two years, squaring off with late replacement Junior Tafa in what should be an all-action affair for as long as it lasts.
“Beastboy” has gone 2-2 through his first two UFC appearances, and fights for the first time since collecting a second-round stoppage win over Jake Collier at UFC 279 in September 2022. Tafa steps in for Waldo Cortes-Acosta, quickly returning to action after suffering a submission loss to Valter Walker at UFC 305.
Dan Argueta vs Cody Haddon
Dan Argueta and Cody Haddon face off in a battle of competitors that found their way into the UFC through different promotional programs.
A contestant on Season 29 of The Ultimate Fighter, Argueta won three additional fights under the LFA banner before reaching the big stage, where he has gone 1-2 with two no contest results in five starts. Haddon is the first member of the DWCS Class of ’24 to step into the Octagon, returning to Las Vegas just a handful of weeks after submitting Billy Brand to earn his contract.
Clayton Carpenter vs Lucas Rocha
Saturday’s action gets underway in the flyweight division, as Contender Series grads Clayton Carpenter and Lucas Rocha share the Octagon.
Carpenter fights for the first time in 20 months, looking to maintain his unblemished record and collect his second stoppage win in as many UFC appearances. Rocha picked up a contract last fall thanks to a second-round knockout win over Davi Bittencourt, and carries a 17-1 record into his promotional debut.
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UFC 307 - Pereira vs. Rountree Jr.
