Tag: Brandon Royval

Brandon Royval had no problem admitting that Tatsuro Taira had drastically surprised him in their main event at the Apex last weekend. “Raw Dawg” emerged victorious via a split decision where he needed to win the fifth round to secure the win.

Having trained together several times in the past, Royval said in his post-fight interview that he expected to run straight through the rising Japanese contender.

He didn’t believe that the 24-year old Taira would be close to his level so it would be a quick night at the office with a first or second round finish but the fight ended up being a great competitive clash.

Though Royval had the clear advantage in the striking exchanges, it was the excellent grappling game of his opponent that cause him some issues.

Royval is no stranger to facing top grapplers in the division and is usually able to cause them some issues with his own scrambling ability. He wasn’t able to do this consistently against Taira who is a master of taking the back and keeping it whilst he works to secure submissions from this dominant position.

In an interview with former UFC champion Michael Bisping on his Believe You Me podcast, Royval spoke about how Taira’s back control and body triangle was another level to what he has experienced in the past, even compared to the likes of Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Moreno.

“When he locked in that body triangle I immediately was like, oh that’s a different type of body triangle and I’ve never felt a body triangle where I was like oh that’s actually really, really tight… I really thought he’d be the least effective of the back riders and holy s*** that kid on my back was a whole different strength, a whole different feeling and really eye opening”

Continue Reading Brandon Royval Names The Thing That Surprised Him About Tatsuro Taira The Most at MMA News.

Brandon Royval attempts to continue making the case for why he deserves another flyweight title shot this weekend.

The #1-ranked contender seemingly has less to gain than his opponent in their upcoming main event clash at the UFC Apex.

Tatsuro Taira will be difficult to deny if he’s able to extend his undefeated streak in the UFC to seven by taking out his toughest test in “Raw Dawg”.

Royval knows that there’s a lot of hype around his next opponent and that gives him the opportunity to steal some of the momentum so that he can force his way into another rematch with the champion, Alexandre Pantoja.

The excitement around the 24-year old Taira is seemingly reflected in the betting odds for this fight that have the Japanese contender as the favorite.

Brandon Royval Believes That The Odds Makers Are Way Off On His Next Match-Up

In an interview with Mike Heck for MMA Fighting, Royval gave his reaction to being the underdog in this fight despite his experience at the top level.

The former title challenger has trained with his upcoming opponent in the past, stating in a different interview that they last worked together around a year ago.

Despite being impressed by Taira’s winning streak inside the Octagon, he did say that he was somewhat surprised to be fighting him this soon.

Royval told MMA Fighting that when he looks at the betting odds, he’s convinced that hype has led to things being the wrong way round, suggesting that Taira isn’t as good as this line suggests.

“When I saw that I’m like, am I seeing something wrong or whatever. I’m one of the most underrated dudes in the flyweight division, I’ve been thinking that for years and I also think Taira might be one of the most overrated guys in this division right now, and no disrespect on him. I’ve trained with him, he seems like a very nice kid and I’m not trying to be disrespectful. I do believe he’ll be a champion one day but I think he’s overrated and I think I’m underrated.”

Continue Reading Brandon Royval Labels Next Opponent Tatsuro Taira ‘Overrated’ at MMA News.