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Like just about everybody who witnessed UFC 306 at Sphere, flyweight contender Tatsuro Taira marveled at the grand presentation celebrating Mexican Independence Day.

While the show cost over $ 20 million to produce, UFC CEO Dana White made it his personal mission to put on an unforgettable live event after the $ 2.3 billion arena featuring massive wraparound LED screens first opened in Las Vegas. Thanks to the UFC’s contract with MGM, White has said that the card as Sphere is a “one and done’ but Taira still holds out hope that one day he could see the UFC put on a show there with a love letter to his home country of Japan.

“That would definitely be a dream, whether that’s a title fight or I’m defending my title,” Taira told MMA Fighting. “Seeing that history of Japanese MMA in the Sphere, presenting that would be my dream.”

Considering how many ties martial arts holds back to Japan, it’s tough to imagine that wouldn’t be a spectacular exploration of history for the UFC to promote.

As much as he would love to see Japanese combat sports get that kind of spotlight, Taira admits he’d do just about anything to get a fight on any UFC card at Sphere.

“It was amazing, Taira said. “The whole event as the night itself was so impressive and amazing. If they come back next year, I definitely want to be on the card.”

First things first, Taira has to take care of his own business on Saturday at UFC Vegas 98 when he faces former title challenger Brandon Royval in the main event.

Despite the fact that nothing has been promised, Taira truly believes a win over an established contender like Royval should probably put him in title contention, especially since reigning UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja still doesn’t have an opponent for his next fight yet.

“Yes, obviously, I’m hoping for the title fight after this,” Taira said. “It will be a good matchup against Pantoja. Of course, focused on this one, get this one and then get Pantoja next.

“First up is this Royval match in October. If I beat him, I’ll be ready to fight any time against the champ.”

Through 16 fights in his career, Taira remains undefeated and he’s currently 6-0 in the UFC with four finishes along the way.

He looks to extend that stream to 17 this weekend and while some fighters shy away from talking about an unblemished record, Taira is proud of his achievement. In fact, Taira hopes to hold unto that undefeated resume all the way through his eventual shot at becoming UFC champion.

“I’m very proud that I’m still undefeated,” Taira said. “Does it give additional pressure? The answer would be yes. But at the same time, that pressure is what brought me here. So I do like the pressure and being undefeated.

“So far I’ve been undefeated but the process is basically one by one. You get this new opponent and you focus on that opponent and keep getting the win. That process has brought me here. Of course if I can get the title shot as an undefeated fighter and get the championship belt the same, it would be a dream of all the fans and fighters, someone to look up to. So I definitely look forward to that.”

When it comes to the Royval fight, Taira was definitely excited when he got the call not only because winning should put him that much closer to the championship but he knows this is the kind of opponent that makes things exciting.

Royval prides himself on being one of the most entertaining fighters on the entire UFC roster and Taira knows that kind of style gives him a lot to work with.

“Royval, I definitely see him as a finisher,” Taira said. “I can see from his fights that he’s always looking for that moment. I think the other thing is his stamina. That’s on the top level of the division.

“I was very excited. Got my last fight against Alex Perez so now I’m here to fight the No. 1 ranked [flyweight]. So I’m very excited. “

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Brandon Royval knows what it’s like to be a hungry challenger.

The flyweight veteran scraped and clawed his way to a UFC title shot, falling just short of the gold with a decision loss to Alexandre Pantoja this past December. A razor-thin win over two-time champion Brandon Moreno nudged Royval closer to a rematch, but there’s still work to be done if he wants another crack at it and that means beating the undefeated Tatsuro Taira this Saturday in the main event of UFC Vegas 98.

In this “what have you done for me lately?” business, Taira has the opportunity to steal Royval’s spot—currently tied for No. 2 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, well ahead of Taira at No. 8—and leap right into the title picture. Which is not to say Taira won’t have earned it as he’s currently 16-0 with six wins in the UFC. Oh, and he doesn’t turn 25 until January.

Pantoja should watch this headliner closely because he could be scouting his next challenger.

In other main card action, Brad Tavares makes his 25th UFC appearance, a record in the middleweight division, Chidi Njokuani continues to test the welterweight waters, Grant Dawson looks to move closer to the lightweight top 15, and welterweight veterans Daniel Rodriguez and Alex Morono square off.

What: UFC Vegas 98

Where: UFC APEX in Las Vegas

When: Saturday, Oct. 12. The seven-fight preliminary card begins at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+, followed by a five-fight main card at 7 p.m. ET also on ESPN+.

Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira

It’s scary the rate at which Tatsuro Taira is evolving and that’s why I like his chances against Brandon Royval.

Make no mistake, this is the biggest test for Taira yet. The Japanese wunderkind looked good against Alex Perez before a grappling exchange that Taira controlled resulted in Perez blowing out his knee, but outside of that he’s yet to perform against the best that flyweight has to offer. He’s clearly the class of his tier, but how will that translate against an opponent that just went 25 minutes in a title fight eight months ago?

When Royval fights to his potential, he’s as good as anyone at 125 pounds. What he struggles with is finding the right balance between his natural aggression and employing a more technical gameplan, which can lead to mixed results. He’s far more battle-tested than Taira though, an important factor to consider when a young fighter is being asked to take a step up in competition.

The name of the game for Taira should be working for takedowns, and rinsing and repeating that strategy until he’s frustrated Royval into submission. Taira has shown he can strike, but he won’t want to mess with Royval’s unpredictable power if he can help it. It’s time for Taira to show his all-around skills are worthy of a title opportunity.

We’re swinging big here and picking Taira to beat Royval via submission in Round 2.

Pick: Taira

Brad Tavares vs. Jun Yong Park

It’s the middleweight division’s Iron Man vs. “The Iron Turtle.”

No middleweight has made more UFC appearances than Brad Tavares, who has been with the organization since 2010. He’s the ultimate gamer, having lost to several elite names while still stringing together enough wins to keep himself employed. He won’t be intimidated in the slightest by Jun Yong Park.

This will be a back-and-forth battle for three rounds, neither fighter likely to connect with a telling blow that lets the judges toss their scorecards. Park has shown flashes of a spot in the rankings, but hasn’t done enough to cross that threshold just yet. To beat Tavares, he has to top the output of a veteran known for his non-stop activity.

When it comes to battles of attrition, Tavares often finds a way to do just enough to sway the scoring in his favor and I expect that to be the case Saturday as well. He times his entries to counter Park’s effective jab game, stuffs any takedown attempts, and outpoints Park to take a unanimous decision.

Pick: Tavares

Chidi Njokuani vs. Jared Gooden

Jared Gooden couldn’t have picked a worse time to miss weight.

In case you haven’t noticed, the latest season of Dana White’s Contender Series is wrapping soon and that means a little fall house-cleaning, as it were. So the last thing you want to be doing is messing around on the scale, especially when you don’t have the most spotless record.

Gooden is 1-1 in his second UFC stint (2-4 overall) and given this is the third time he’s missed weight in the promotion, there’s no nice way to put it: he’s fighting to stay on the roster here. That worst-case scenario could motivate him to a career-best performance when the bell rings, but the fact he missed weight in the first place should raise concerns as to his level of preparation.

His opponent Chidi Njokuani was once known for his inability to cut down to 170 pounds, but he made that weight for his most recent fight with Rhys McKee and following that split decision win he’s looking to prove he deserves bigger fights. His speed and striking have always made him an intriguing talent and as he approaches his 36th birthday, it’s now or never for him.

For now, he should handily out-strike Gooden and foil his attempts to take the fight to the ground. A focused Njokuani should end this via knockout in the first or second round.

Pick: Njokuani

Grant Dawson vs. Rafa Garcia

Listed generously at 5-foot-7, Rafa Garcia is used to being the low man whenever he enters the octagon, so I’m curious to see how he deals with the brawny Grant Dawson.

Garcia is strong as an ox and loves to throw looping hooks en route takedown attempts. He’s in tough against Dawson, a fellow grappler that will be tough to outwrestle. It’s entirely possible they neutralize each other’s wrestling, resulting in a standup battle I think Dawson wins.

True, we haven’t seen much of Dawson on the feet and what he have seen has been a work in progress, but he strikes me as someone who is still developing his striking, not someone who is incapable of it. His size and strength—and the harsh lessons learned in his loss to Bobby Green—should give him the advantage here. If Dawson can sprinkle in a few takedowns, all the better.

Garcia will make him work for it, but Dawson by decision.

Pick: Dawson

Daniel Rodriguez vs. Alex Morono

As mentioned above, the UFC is in a cutting mood, so let’s hope that doesn’t spell doom for the loser of Daniel Rodriguez vs. Alex Morono. Even though neither fighter is ever likely to compete for a world title, they still have a lot to offer.

They’ll get to show it in this matchup of two strikers, Rodriguez better known for his crafty and technical style, and Morono more prone to timely bursts of action. Neither man is likely to come out guns blazing, so expect this to come off as a high-level sparring match with a little blood sprinkled in. That’s the best you can ask for with these APEX cards, sometimes.

When he’s on, Rodriguez looks like a top-15 welterweight. I like his chances of channeling some of his prime form against Morono. It’s Rodriguez’s fight to lose, and I see him winning the majority of exchanges over the course of three rounds to take a comfortable, if uneventful decision.

Pick: Rodriguez

Preliminaries

Ramazan Temirov def. CJ Vergara

Pat Sabatini def. Jonathan Pearce

Themba Gorimbo def. Niko Price

Cory McKenna def. Julia Polastri

Sean Sharaf def. Junior Tafa

Cody Haddon def. Dan Argueta

Lucas Rocha def. Clayton Carpenter

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Think you can figure out which UFC fighter we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out.

We’re back for another day of the SB Nation UFC in-5 daily trivia game, and we’re switching to a system of a new article each day for the game.

We tried using a single article for the game, updated with the latest game each day, but it was creating a bit of an unwieldy experience in the comments. So, we’ll have the current day’s game plus the previous three days in each new article. That way, you can catch up if you miss a day.

Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game!

What we need from you

1. Play the game
2. Share your result in the comments and on social media
3. Provide feedback (Google Form or in comments below)

Today’s UFC in-5 game

Friday’s UFC in-5 game

Thursday’s UFC in-5 game

Wednesday’s UFC in-5 game

The goal of the game is to guess the correct random UFC fighter player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED FIGHTERS. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it. It will be a mix of well-known players and some “that guys” that we haven’t thought of in some time. The game will appear in slot #3 of the MMA Fighting layout each morning, with occasional movement later in the day.

After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media.

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MMA Fighting has UFC Vegas 98 results for the Royval vs. Taira fight card, a live blog for the main event, and more from UFC APEX in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

In the main event, recent title challenger Brandon Royval hopes to hold on to his spot in the contender line when he fights the undefeated Tatsuro Taira. “Raw Dawg” bounced back from a disappointing loss to flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja with a narrow split decision win over two-time champion Brandon Moreno this past February.

Taira, who doesn’t turn 25 until January, has taken the UFC flyweight division by storm, winning his first six fights for the promotion to improve his overall record to 16-0. He scored the biggest win of his career in his most recent fight, defeating one-time title challenger Alex Perez when an injury ended Perez’s night in Round 2.

Royval is currently tied for the No. 2 spot at flyweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, with Taira looking to climb up from No. 8.

In the penultimate bout of the evening, Brad Tavares makes his UFC middleweight record 25th appearance when he takes on “The Iron Turtle” Jun Yong Park.

Check out UFC Vegas 98 results below.

Main Card (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira

Brad Tavares vs. Jun Yong Park

Chidi Njokuani vs. Jared Gooden

Grant Dawson vs. Rafa Garcia

Daniel Rodriguez vs. Alex Morono

Preliminary Card (4 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

CJ Vergara vs. Ramazan Temirov

Jonathan Pearce vs. Pat Sabatini

Themba Gorimbo vs. Niko Price

Julia Polastri vs. Cory McKenna

Junior Tafa vs. Sean Sharaf

Dan Argueta vs. Cody Haddon

Clayton Carpenter vs. Lucas Rocha

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MMA Fighting has BKFC Spain results for the Tenaglia vs. Soto fight card and more from Marbella Arena in Marbella, Spain.

In the main event, Franco Tenaglia squares off against Tony Soto for the vacant BKFC lightweight title.

Austin Trout defends his BKFC welterweight title against Ricardo Franco, and David Mundell puts his BKFC middleweight title up against Danny Christie on the main card as well.

MMA media personalities Oscar Stephens-Willis and Ben Davis also clash on the main card.

Check out the BKFC Spain results below.

Main Card (DAZN at 1 p.m. ET)

Franco Tenaglia vs. Tony Soto

Austin Trout vs. Ricardo Franco

David Mundell vs. Danny Christie

Dan Champman vs. Mike Jurik

Felipe da Silva Maia vs. James Lilley

Hannah Rankin vs. Deborah Mellhorn

Oscar Stephens-Willis vs. Ben Davis

Yunus Batan vs. Maxine Bellamy

Prelims

Nico Gaffie vs. Radek Stadler

Arbi Chakaev vs. Jose Daniel

Fran Suarez vs. David Mora

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MMA Fighting has Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol live round-by-round updates for one of the most anticipated boxing fights of the year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday night.

The main event is expected to begin around 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+. Check out our Beterbiev vs. Bivol results page to find out what happened on the undercard.

Artur Beterbiev (20-0) is the WBO, IBF, and WBC light heavyweight champion. Beterbiev has only fought once this year when he knocked out Callum Smith in the seventh round this past January.

Dmitry Bivol (23-0) is the WBA light heavyweight champion. Bivol knocked out Malik Zinad in the sixth round in his only fight of the year in June.

Get the Beterbiev vs. Bivol round-by-round live blog below:

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Round 4:

Round 5:

Round 6:

Round 7:

Round 8:

Round 9:

Round 10:

Round 11:

Round 12:

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Aline Pereira had a pretty good teacher.

Pereira, the sister of UFC champion Alex Pereira, knocked out Dee Begley in the first round at Karate Combat 50 at the Salt Palace Convention Center on Friday night in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“That’s the Pereira left hook. My big brother’s the one that showed me,” Aline Pereira said during post-fight interview.

Aline Pereira, who was making her Karate Combat debut, took the fight despite the fact her opponent Begley missed weight by four pounds.

Alex Pereira, who received a hug from his sister after her win, is coming off a devastating performance of his own when he retained his light heavyweight title with a fourth-round TKO of Khalil Rountree at UFC 307 last Saturday night.

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Magomed Ankalaev had some harsh words for Anthony Smith.

Later this month, Ankalaev takes on Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 in a bout that many believe is a title eliminator for the next shot at light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira; however, not everyone agrees.

Earlier this week, Smith, a past opponent of Ankalaev’s, suggested there are other fighters in line for a crack at Pereira, saying that Ankalaev’s unexciting style has made the UFC less interested in him.

“I wouldn’t count on it because there’s a good chance that Volkan Oezdemir and Carlos Ulberg can have a conversation, or at least have some sort of case to make to get that fight,” Smith told MMA Junkie. “Especially if Ankalaev does what he tends to do sometimes, and that’s lay an egg and still win. He’s already been punished for that. He’s already done it once before in the Jan Blachowicz fight and Dana was absolutely furious.

“Pereira just fought. What would have stopped him from fighting in Abu Dhabi and fighting Ankalaev there?”

“They’re not rushing Ankalaev into a title fight for a reason,” Smith continued. “I think if that fight lays an egg and Volkan Oezdemir goes in there and finishes Carlos Ulberg, I think Volkan Oezdemir has a great case to make for a title shot. So I wouldn’t just count on that.”

As you might expect, Ankalaev did not seem to take too kindly to this.

On Friday, Ankalaev responded to Smith’s recent comments, ripping his former opponent on social media and calling Smith his “easiest fight ever.”

“Just to be clear, Rakic is my toughest fight in the division.”

“Anthony Smith said I sometimes sting the show, hey do you remember what I did to you [and] Johnny Walker? You are an analyst and supposed to stay neutral.”

“Chael Sonnen, you are right my friend, my toughest fight in the division is Rakic, my easiest fight ever was Anthony Smith. I hit him with a combination from a video game I used to play when I was 12.”

Ankalaev and Smith faced off back at UFC 277, where Ankalaev won by second-round TKO. That fight earned Ankalaev a shot at the vacant light heavyweight title against Jan Blachowicz in a fight that ended in a split draw. Following that, Ankalaev had a no-contest with Johnny Walker due to an illegal eye poke, but then won their rematch this January, stopping Walker in the second round and earning a Performance of the Night bonus. Ankalaev also holds wins over Oezdemir and No. 7-ranked Nikita Krylov.

UFC 308 takes place Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

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The UFC returns to the APEX this Saturday for UFC Vegas 98, headlined by a top-10 flyweight matchup between Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira. Royval is a former title challenger and the current No. 1-ranked contender at flyweight, while Taira is the undefeated prospect trying to make his way to the belt for the first time.

Ahead of Saturday’s Fight Night card, MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew and Alexander K. Lee preview the entire card, including who wins the main event and whether a title shot is next up for the winner. Additionally, they discuss under-the-radar matchups on the card, which fighters are in danger of receiving their walking papers, the state of MMA judging, and much more.

Catch the UFC Vegas 98 preview show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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Darren Till certainly knows how to pick his social media targets.

Undefeated UFC middleweight Bo Nickal is the latest fighter to draw Till’s ire, with the former welterweight contender taking a shot at Nickal on Thursday.

In post on Twitter responding to Nickal outlining his future plans on his YouTube channel, Till wrote, “The ginger ninja doesn’t even fight. Talks more than me and I talk a lot.”

The timing of Till’s comments are somewhat strange given that Nickal is set for his second appearance of 2024 when he fights Paul Craig at UFC 309 on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York. A three-time NCAA Division-I wrestling champion who made his pro MMA debut in 2022, Nickal has so far lived up to his enormous hype, going 6-0 and finishing all but one of his opponents in the first round.

However, Till isn’t impressed with the quality of competition nor does he feel that Nickal passes the eye test.

“He even shit talks me and hasn’t beat an opponent who’s record is a winning one,” Till wrote.

There is some truth to Till’s statement. All of Nickal’s UFC opponents came into the cage with winning pro records, but none of them were over the .500 mark inside the octagon.

Even when Till went on to compliment Nickal, he made sure to throw in a few nasty digs.

“Yes, his wrestling is good but his striking is appalling and his cooking videos make me want to stab myself to death,” Till wrote.

It’s unclear what Till’s angle is here as he is not currently competing in MMA. Till previously fought for the UFC welterweight title against Tyron Woodley at UFC 228, where he was submitted by Woodley in Round 2. He parted ways with the UFC in February 2023.

Currently, Till is dabbling in the world of boxing. He made a successful debut this past July with a controversial win over Mohammad Mutie, and was supposed to fight veteran Julio César Chávez Jr. on July 20 on the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson card, but that event was postponed to Nov. 15. Till’s bout was not re-booked.

Check out Nickal’s podcast below.

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