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UFC Vegas 98: Royval vs Taira Full Card, Stream, Start Time, Odds

The UFC's October surge returns to Las Vegas for the next two weekends, beginning with a potential flyweight title eliminator.

Zain Bando

(Zuffa LLC

The UFC is back in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon for the first back-to-back cards from the UFC APEX. The main event features a flyweight title eliminator between Brandon Royval (16-7 MMA) and Tatsuo Taira (16-0 MMA).

Royval has been with the UFC since 2020, posting a 6-3 record. His last fight saw him earn a closely-contested split decision against former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno in February. The win was Royval's since last April, bouncing back after losing in his lone flyweight title opportunity in December against Alexandre Pantoja.

Meanwhile, Taira has been on a tear since his arrival on the UFC scene. He is 6-0 since 2022, skyrocketing himself into contender status with a second-round TKO due to injury in June against Alex Perez. Hailing from Japan, Taira has won 44 percent of his fights by submission while balancing his attack with five TKO finishes.

The winner of the fight is arguably next in line for Pantoja, who defeated Steve Erceg in May at UFC 301.

UFC Fight Night Preview – Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira

Other fights on the card include a plethora of UFC veterans and prospects who are attempting to take the next step toward superstardom in their careers.

Check out the list of fights which are going down Saturday afternoon below.

Who Else Is Fighting on UFC Vegas 98 and What Are The Betting Odds?

Initially a 13-fight card, a middleweight fight between Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Josh Fremd was axed Friday morning after Fremd missed weight. The rest of the fights will proceed as planned despite two additional misses from Dan Argueta and Jared Gooden.

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Odds are courtesy of DraftKings, which are subject to change.

Brandon Royval (+240) vs. Tatsuro Taira (-298)

• Brad Tavares (+164) vs. Jun Yong Park (-198)

• Chidi Njokuani (-162) vs. Jared Gooden (+136)

• Grant Dawson (-360) vs. Rafa Garcia (+285

• Daniel Rodriguez (-218) vs. Alex Morono (+180)

• CJ Vergara (+270) vs. Ramazonbek Temirov (-340)

• Jonathan Pearce (-185) vs. Pat Sabatini (+154)

• Themba Gorimbo (-325) vs. Niko Price (+260)

• Junior Tafa (-305) vs. Sean Sharaf (+245)

• Julia Polastri (-125) vs. Cory McKenna (+105)

• Dan Argueta (+142) vs. Cody Haddon (-170)

• Clayton Carpenter (-225) vs. Lucas Rocha (+185)

The card gets underway with the prelims at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, followed by the main card at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The entire show can be seen on ESPN+.

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Zain Bando
ZAIN BANDO

Zain Bando is a writer for MMA Knockout, part of the Sports Illustrated/Minute Media umbrella. He has covered combat sports since 2019 for notable outlets BJPenn.com and FanSided MMA. He also co-hosts a podcast called "The MMA Outsiders," part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network, which airs Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. A Chicago suburban native, Bando has been enthralled with MMA since 2006 and has been fortunate to attend some of the most high-profile events in the sport's history, both as a fan and media member, including UFC 264, Bellator 297 and Kayla Harrison's PFL MMA debut. He is excited to take the next step in his combat sports writing journey and looks forward to continuing his following of the fight game for years to come. Bando can be reached via email at zainbando99@gmail.com or by social media @zainbando99

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