FILE– UFC fighter Brandon Royval. –Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP
Brandon Royval handed Tatsuro Taira his first loss on Saturday, winning by split decision in a main event flyweight bout at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.
Royval (17-7-0) took the cards 48-47, 47-48, 48-47 to pull off the upset of Taira, who came into the fight with a 16-0-0 record. Taira hadn’t fought since defeating Alex Perez by technical knockout on June 15.
With the victory, Royval improved to 5-1-0 over his past six fights.
READ: Alex Pereira returns to Utah for title bout at UFC 307
“Taira, you’re the (expletive) man,” Royval said in a post-fight interview. “Taira, you ever need a place to train, any time you’re in Colorado, you need anything, a ride … anything, I’m there for you. You’re gonna become a champion, and I hope I can help you one day, bro.”
JunYong Park (18-6-0) also prevailed by split decision, taking the cards 28-29, 29-28, 29-28 against Brad Tavares (20-11-0) in a battle of middleweights.
Other winners Saturday included welterweights Chidi Njokuani (24-10-0) and Daniel Rodriguez (18-5-0) and lightweight Grant Dawson (22-2-1). –Field Level Media