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In most cases, Brandon Royval is someone who doesn’t hesitate to offer praise for his flyweight peers.

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That includes Tatsuro Taira, who gave “Raw Dawg” all he could handle in the UFC Vegas 98 headliner on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. While Taira spent the better part of two rounds attached to Royval’s back, the Factory X product was able to do enough quality work on the feet to earn a split-decision triumph. Though Royval has expected great things from Taira, he didn’t necessarily anticipate the struggles he would have to endure against the Japanese standout to get his hand raised.

“I didn’t expect any of that s—t. I thought I was gonna cruise through him, honestly,” Royval said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I give that kid a lot of respect. I give that kid a lot of praise. I 100% believe that he’s gonna be a champion one day. I said that before this fight took place. I said that before I even knew we were gonna fight…

Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira put on a show in the UFC Vegas 98 main event, and the flyweight contenders were compensated appropriately for their efforts.

Royval and Taira received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their back-and-forth battle at the UFC Apex on Saturday night. Royval was able to survive his opponent’s grappling and imposed his will during striking exchanges to emerge with a split-decision triumph in what will likely go down as one of the year’s best bouts.

Elsewhere, Octagon newcomer Ramazonbek Temirov made strong first impression, flooring C.J. Vergara three times en route to a technical knockout at the 2:50 mark of Round 1 in their flyweight pairing. That was more than enough to secure a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for the Uzbekistan native.

Finally, Clayton Carpenter claimed the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award thanks to a second-round submission of Lucas Rocha in a preliminary flyweigh…

Brandon Royval showed he still warrants consideration as one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight elite.

The resilient Factory X standout called upon superior standup, bulletproof submission defense and a seemingly endless gas tank to outlast Tatsuro Taira to a five-round split decision in the UFC Fight Night 244 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three member of the judiciary struck 48-47 scorecards: Sal D’Amato for Taira, Chris Lee and Ron McCarthy for Royval.

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Taira (16-1, 6-1 UFC) was stellar in the grappling exchanges through four rounds, as he advanced to the back on multiple occasions, secured his position with body triangles, applied his ground-and-pound and threatened the neck. Royval (17-7, 7-3 UFC) answered on the feet, where he connected with surgical combinations and the occasional knee. He had Taira on the proverbial ropes early in the third round, as he sent two-, three- and four-punch volleys crashing…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to its homebase of Las Vegas Saturday at 4 p.m. ET with UFC Vegas 98. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 244. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Carpenter (-192), Rocha (+160)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Haddon (-185), Argueta (+154)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round…

Ramazonbek Temirov throws the kind of heat that keeps others awake at night.

The Uzbekistani prospect announced his arrival in the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division with some serious pizzazz, as he cut down C.J. Vergara with punches in the featured UFC Fight Night 244 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Vergara (12-6-1, 3-4 UFC) met his end 2:50 into Round 1.

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Temirov (16-2-1, 1-0 UFC) tested the waters with a couple spinning back kicks to the body while darting in and out with power punches. He floored Vergara with a left hook, gave chase with follow-up punches and dropped the Pete Spratt protégé a second time with a clubbing right over the top. Temirov kept his foot on the accelerator, allowed his opponent to stand and brought it to a close with a wicked left hook to the body.

The 27-year-old Temirov now finds himself on a 10-fight winning streak.

Meanwhile, former Cage Fury Fighting Championship titleholder Pat …

Two title fights will get top billing at UFC 310 on Dec. 7.

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UFC CEO Dana White announced Saturday that a welterweight title tilt between Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov will serve as the evening’s main event, whileAlexandre Pantoja will defend his flyweight crown against Kai Asakura in the co-headliner. UFC 310 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and marks the promotion’s final pay-per-view offering of 2024.

White also confirmed that a welterweight clash pitting Nick Diaz against Vicente Luque and a heavyweight showdown between Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov have been rebooked for the event.

Muhammad is unbeaten in his last 11 Octagon appearances dating back to April 13, 2019. He claimed 170-pound gold with a unanimous decision triumph against Leon Edwards at UFC 304 on July 27. “Remember the Name” also owns notable wins over the likes of Gilbert Burns, Sean Brady, Luque, Stephen Thompson and Demian Maia, to name a few.

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[embedded content] Micael Galvao and Amit Elor met backstage at a jiu-jitsu championship event in San Francisco in 2017, unaware of the future in store for the two of them.

Recently turning 21 years of age, Galvao has established himself as a major player in the jiu-jitsu scene. After conquering the so-called “Super Grand Slam”—victories in the Brazilian, Pan American, European and World Championships events—the youngster has ambitions that rival his ample skills. Galvao, also an ADCC champion, revealed to Combate’s Mundo da Luta podcast last Monday that he is considering representing his home country in the Olympics. Galvao’s girlfriend, Elor, won the Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2024 games at 68 kg (150 pounds), and he would like to match her accomplishment in 2028.

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“I have this desire to compete in the Olympic games, and I believe that wrestling would be the easiest path,” Galvao claimed. “I tried to see if it would be possible …

Our #UFCVegas98 main event is official ✅@BrandonRoyval hits the scale at 125.5lbs

[ Live TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus| 7pmET/4pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/21p2aAky9a

— UFC (@ufc) October 11, 2024 Editor's note: The article was updated at 2:15 p.m. ET to reflect the cancelation of one bout.

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After an electric pay-per-view event in Salt Lake City, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the UFC Apex for UFC Fight Night 244.

Headlining the 12-fight card is a five-round flyweight contest between former title challenger Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira. Both mixed martial artists came in under the 126-pound limit. However, the rest of the card wasn't nearly as professional. Three fighters missed weight: Jared Gooden came in 1.5 pounds over the welterweight limit for his fight against Chidi Njokuani, Josh Fremd hit the scales in three pounds overweight for his middleweight fight against Abdul Razak Alhassan and Dan Argueta clocke…

Rising Ultimate Fighting Championship talent Carlos Prates has already earned a place on the marquee.

Per MMA Fighting on Thursday, the promotion has pulled Prates (20-6) from his welterweight pairing with Randy Brown at UFC 309. Instead, the surging Brazilian will collide with grizzled veteran Neil Magny (29-12) in the main event of UFC Fight Night 247, also known as UFC Vegas 100. An excited Prates has since confirmed the matchup on his Instagram page.

Fan-favorite Magny has alternated wins and losses in his last eight, staving off tough outs Mike Malott and Daniel Rodriguez while coming up short to elite threats in the division like Shavkat Rakhmonov and Gilbert Burns. Most recently, the 37-year-old saw his brief bit of momentum from the Malott victory dry up when Michael Morales punched him out in the first round. Magny, who now goes by the nickname of “The Haitian Sensation,” holds a litany of records at 170 pounds including the most appearances (33), the most …

Artem Vakhitov, the last man to beat Alex Pereira in kickboxing, just got a UFC contract 👀

Dana White says he gave him the contract because Alex Pereira said he deserves it 🤝 #DWCS #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/8FhySR8MhE

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 9, 2024

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Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight kingpin Alex Pereira helped rival Artem Vakhitov get into the UFC.

Vakhitov (3-1) earned a first-round technical knockout over Islem Masraf at DWCS 2024: Week 9 on Tuesday. However, UFC CEO Dana White contemplated before giving Vakhitov a contract as he did not expect the amount of clinching that transpired. White called on his biggest star and Vakhitov’s former foe in Pereira, who was sitting cageside, for his opinion.

“This was an interesting fight, more clinching than I expected. And you obviously got the job done, you got the finish. And I actually called Alex back with me to talk about this fig…

The woman many feel is the WMMA GOAT might be plotting a return.

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Amanda Nunes (23-5) recently hinted that she might be coming out of retirement in a message to Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White. “The Lioness” asked the UFC head honcho to “Call me” in a video posted on Instagram.

White reacted to Nunes’ message at the DWCS 2024: Week 9 post-fight press conference.

“She looks good. She looks great. Looks like she’s still in shape. So, you know where her head’s at. And I love that about her. There’s a lot of things I love about her, I love that about her. She’s keeping an eye on who wins the title next. I think she’s teasing that she might be interested in coming back.”

Nunes’ legendary championship run came to an end via a shock upset submission loss against Julianna Pena (12-5) at UFC 269 in 2021. Nunes reclaimed her belt via a one-sided unanimous decision over Pena in their rematch at UFC 277 the next year. They were s…

Kody Steele found the on-off switch.

The undefeated Syndicate MMA prospect was one of four hopefuls to secure an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 9 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he took out Chasen Blair with punches in the second round of their lightweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Steele (7-0, 1-0 DWCS) brought it to a close 4:07 into Round 2.

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Blair (6-3, 0-1 DWCS) went tit for tat with the Texan and held his own for a time. Steele applied merciless pressure, let fly with heavy punching bursts and put visible damage on his opponent across the first five minutes. Blair appeared to turn the tide in the first half of the second round, where he operated behind an effective counter game, basic one-twos and intermittent leg kicks. Steele was unimpressed and undeterred. He pressed forward with supreme confidence and connected with a sweeping left hook the liver that felled Blair at the base of the cage. …