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.
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.