UFC Vegas 98 start time, full fight card details | Royval vs. Taira

Final Preventing Championship (UFC) is again residence in Las Vegas, Nevada, to stage UFC Vegas 98 later TONIGHT (Sat., Oct. 12, 2024) from inside its APEX venue. Headlining the ESPN+-streamed occasion is a males’s Flyweight bout between Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira. In UFC Vegas 98’s co-headlining bout, Brad Tavares takes on Jun Yong Park in Middleweight motion.

What’s Scorching:

Flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja, could quickly have a dance associate confirmed for his third try to defend his 125-pound strap as Royval (No. 1) will battle Taira (No. 4) in what is certain to be an exhilarating title eliminator battle. Royval has already misplaced to Pantoja twice, developing quick in opposition to the Brazilian bomber three years in the past, dropping by way of rear-naked choke (see it again here), and by way of resolution simply final 12 months. These are losses I’m positive Royval would like to get again, particularly if it means he has an opportunity to not solely get revenge, however to win his first-ever UFC world title. However, he has an enormous activity forward of him, making an attempt to change into the primary man to defeat Taira, who’s coming into the battle with an immaculate file (16-0, 6-0 UFC).

Taira — a former Shooto Flyweight champion — is clearly no stranger to world championship fights, however he has his eyes on the largest prize of all of them, a UFC strap, after impressing in his first six fights with the promotion. Already ranked No. 4 within the division that at one level was on its deathbed, Taira has secured six wins in simply two years — 4 finishes — which has been greater than sufficient to maneuver up the ranks and into the place to battle for the world title sooner, relatively than later. What’s scary about Taira is that he’s very calculated along with his strategy, which can also be very deadly. Royval has energy and placing abilities to match, however Tairia is simply barely higher in all areas, although it’s straightforward to say the jiu-jitsu division is a toss up. However, I don’t anticipate this bout to happen on the bottom fairly often. The winner right here undoubtedly will get a shot at Pantoja’s title, which can be one other stellar bout in itself.

Unique Card Vs. Precise Card:

A Bantamweight tilt between former division champion Cody Garbrandt vs. Miles Johns was scheduled for this occasion earlier than the bout was moved to a battle evening occasion in November for undisclosed causes. A girls’s Strawweight bout between Polyana Viana vs. Cory McKenna was additionally scheduled for this occasion earlier than Viana withdrew from the battle and changed by Julia Polastri, who got here up quick in opposition to Josefine Lindgren Knutsson in her UFC debut earlier this 12 months. As for McKenna, she was final seen getting submitted by Jaqueline Amorim this previous summer time.

Chris Barnett needed to bow out of his Heavyweight battle in opposition to Junior Tafa because of journey complications because of Hurricane Milton, and was changed by promotional newcomer, Sean Sharaf. Additionally, on the day of a disastrous weigh-ins the place three fighters missed the mark (see here), a bout between Josh Fremd vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan was canceled after Fremd missed weight by three kilos.

Accidents:

Regardless of the quite a few setbacks, none had been reported because of accidents.

New Blood:

Sharaf will put his four-fight win streak on the road as he makes his UFC debut in opposition to Tafa in what’s sure-to-be a hard-hitting Heavyweight slugfest. After turning skilled in 2021, Sharaf hasn’t been overly-active, however when he’s been contained in the cage he has made essentially the most of it, incomes 4 straight first-round knockout wins, together with one in simply 9 seconds. When he trades bombs with Tafa — loser of two straight — it will likely be a sure-fire recipe for fireworks and a knockout … or not.

Cody Haddon will convey a five-fight win streak with him when he steps foot contained in the Octagon for the primary time in opposition to Dan Argueta in a battle that may now be contested at 139 kilos after Argueta missed weight. Now, Haddon is not going to solely get a some further money courtesy of Argueta, but when the bout is someway “Fight of the Night,” Haddon will get an additional $100,000 since Argueta is not going to be eligible to win the post-fight bonus money.

Ramazanbek Temirov will make his first look contained in the Octagon after spending nearly all of his nine-year professional profession competing internationally. Presently on a nine-fight win streak, he’ll search for fortunate No. 10 in opposition to CJ Vergara. who’s coming off a troublesome loss to Asu Almabaev earlier this 12 months.

Lucas Rocha will make his UFC debut one 12 months faraway from his win on the Contender Sequence, his sixth straight victory. The 24-year previous reveals promise at a younger age with a 17-1 file and 14 stoppages. His first check contained in the Octagon can be in opposition to Clayton Carpenter, who’s undefeated (7-0), together with making a splash in his UFC debut by defeating Juancamilo Ronderos via submission greater than 1.5 years in the past.

How The ‘Prelims’ Look

We now have already mentioned nearly all of the undercard motion in our earlier part, so let’s check out the couple of remaining bouts, we could?

In Welterweight motion, Themba Gorimbo will try to win his fourth straight when he battles long-time veteran and fan-favorite, Niko Value. “The Hybrid” was final seen defeating Alex Morono by way of unanimous resolution this previous summer time, snapping his two-fight dropping streak. Gorimbo, in the meantime, has regarded spectacular since dropping his UFC debut by rattling of three consecutive victories.

As soon as upon a time, Jonathan Pearce was on a five-fight win streak, however he has since dropped two straight. As for his upcoming foe, Pat Sabatini, he’s simply 1-2 in his final three journeys contained in the Octagon, and was final seen getting knocked out by UFC’s latest darling, Diego Lopes, in simply 90 seconds a 12 months in the past (see it again here). Each males want a win right here in the event that they need to hold on to their spot on UFC’s bloated roster.

Who Wants A Win Badly:

Daniel Rodriguez kicked off his UFC marketing campaign with a powerful 7-1 mark, which incorporates massive wins over Mike Perry, Jingliang Li and Kevin Lee, amongst others. However, over his final three fights, “D-Rod’s” degree of competitors has elevated, and he has been unable to reply the decision, dropping three straight by the hands of Ian Garry, Neil Magny and Kelvin Gastelum. Now, he’ll look to keep away from his dreaded fourth straight defeat when he goes up in opposition to Alex Morono, who might use a win himself, going 1-2 in his final three bouts together with his most up-to-date defeat by the hands of the aforementioned Value.

Curiosity Stage: 5/10

Two streaking Lightweights will try to maintain their rhythm going after they do battle in opposition to each other as Grant Dawson takes on Rafa Garcia. Dawson is an astounding 9-1-1 in his final 10 fights underneath the UFC banner. As for Rafa, he’s 4-1 in his final 5 fights, so each males want to make a splash as a way to be in consideration for a Prime 15 rating. which is difficult to return by within the loaded 155-pound weight class.

A battle that was scheduled to happen at Welterweight between Chidi Njokuani and Jared Gooden will now be a catchweight battle of 172 kilos after Gooden did not make weight. “Nite Prepare” is 3-1 in his final 4 fights however his scale fail positively offers him a black eye, so he wants a powerful win to get again into UFC’s good graces. Njokuani, in the meantime, snapped his horrible three-fight dropping streak by scoring a split-decision win over Rhys McKee earlier this 12 months.

Within the co-main occasion, Tavares will look to show that he nonetheless has lots left within the tank after competing for the promotion for shut to fifteen years now. He has had a number of ups and downs throughout that point, however over the previous few years he has been relatively inconsistent in terms of choosing up wins, going simply 1-3 in his final 4 fights. As for Park, he’s 4-1 in his final 5 fights, and is coming off a troublesome loss by the hands of Andre Muniz, which he misplaced by way of split-decision.

Benefit from the fights!

Full UFC Vegas 98 Fight Card:

UFC Vegas 98 Principal Occasion On ESPN+:

125 lbs.: Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira

UFC Vegas 98 Principal Card on ESPN+ (7 p.m. ET):

185 lbs.: Brad Tavares vs. Jun Yong Park
155 lbs.: Grant Dawson vs. Rafa García
115 lbs.: Cory McKenna vs. Julia Polastri
170 lbs.: Daniel Rodriguez vs. Alex Morono
185 lbs.: Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Josh Fremd — CANCELED (details here)

UFC Vegas 98 ‘Prelims’ Card on ESPN+ (4 p.m. ET):

170 lbs.: Chidi Njokuani vs. Jared Gooden
125 lbs.: CJ Vergara vs. Ramazonbek Temirov
145 lbs.: Jonathan Pearce vs. Pat Sabatini
170 lbs.: Themba Gorimbo vs. Niko Value
265 lbs.: Junior Tafa vs. Sean Sharaf (not Chris Barnett)
135 lbs.: Dan Argueta vs. Cody Haddon
125 lbs.: Clayton Carpenter vs. Lucas Rocha

*Combat card, bout order and quantity of fights stay topic to vary.*

MMAmania.com will ship LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow protection of all the UFC Vegas 98 battle card RIGHT HERE, beginning with the ESPN+ “Prelims” undercard matchups that are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. ET, adopted by the remaining foremost card stability on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET.

To take a look at the newest and biggest UFC Vegas 98 information and notes make sure you hit up our complete occasion archive here.