The action returned to the Apex Facility in Vegas after an exciting showdown in Salt Lake City, Utah. Headlining the event was the #1 flyweight contender Brandon Royval who derailed the Japanese hype train – Tatsuro Taira. In his latest outing, ‘Raw Dawg’ emulated his previous performance against Brandon Moreno, defeating the young Jap via split decision, earning himself a generous payday in the process.
While the official earning details are still unknown at this point, Marca, in its latest report claimed that the American was to bag something in the ballpark of $100k. Given that his biggest payday came against the champion, Alexandre Pantoja courtesy of the PPV cut in December of last year, this is a respectable figure.
On the other hand, taking into account his loss, Royval is not expected to have a bump in his base salary.
As for his opponent, Taira, the 24-year-old phenom is expected to earn just over $110,000, something similar to what he earned when he won against Alex Perez in June.
Despite walking into the octagon undefeated, the bout against the former title challenger turned out to be a tall order for the young gun as the veteran handed him his first loss in the promotion.
Royval vs Taira: A complete breakdown
The five-rounder started on an exciting note with both contenders showing their skill, catching each other with a few well-timed shots. But then the Japanese fighter decided to take things to the ground to drown the former title challenger using his elite grappling skills.
Taira was successful with his takedown and secured control over Royval who masterfully showed that he wasn’t the lesser fighter on the ground, escaping his submission attempts.
The third round saw ‘Raw Dawg’ take the fight to the youngster, displaying his superior striking to Taira and landing several massive shots in the process.
However, recognizing the danger of trading shots with the 32-year-old on the feet, the young challenger immediately reverted to his strategy. The American’s stick-and-move game plan worked, which turned out to be real trouble for the Japanese fighter.
To make things worse, Taira while attempting a takedown ate a perfect knee in the third after which Royval tried a submission with an arm bar. But Taira was no joke when it came to grappling and turned things around in a jiffy, finishing the round on the back of the Royval with a rear naked choke cinched in.
Round 4 was more or less the same with the young fighter attempting to submit the veteran on the ground. While unsuccessful in his attempt, he managed to land a few soft blows on the 32-year-old.
The two fighters went at it in the final round with Royval wary of Taira’s level changes. He masterfully caught the youngster with a few shots and Taira’s face reflected that.
But he went ahead with his takedown attempts, giving fans one hell of an exchange on the floor with both fighters trying to secure a dominant position.
In the end, the judges gave the decision – 48-47, 48-47, 48-47, in favor of Royval who extended his winning streak to two.
