Brandon Royval had to dig deep to hand Tatsuro Taira his first career loss.
Royval and Taira went back and forth for five hard-fought rounds in the UFC Vegas 98 headliner, but it was “Raw Dawg” who ultimately earned a split-decision triumph on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Though Royval struggled with the grappling of his Japanese opponent, he was able to assert himself on the feet to earn the nod from two of the three cageside judges. While Taira’s perfect record is a thing of the past, he will likely see his stock rise in defeat.