UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira
{{short description|Mixed martial arts event in 2024}}
{{Infobox MMA event
|name= UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira
|image= UFC Fight Night 244.jpg
|promotion= Ultimate Fighting Championship
|date= {{start date|2024|10|12}}
|venue= UFC Apex
|city = Enterprise, Nevada, United States
|gate=
|previousevent= UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr.
|followingevent= UFC Fight Night: Hernandez vs. Pereira
}}
UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira (also known as UFC Fight Night 244, UFC on ESPN+ 102 and UFC Vegas 98) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 12, 2024, at the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Valley, United States.{{Cite web|url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-schedule-2024-events-dates-locations-fight-card?itm_source=parsely-api|title=Remainder of UFC schedule in 2024 fills out: 15 events across nine cities|publisher=mmajunkie.usatoday.com|author=Nolan King|date=2024-08-17|access-date=2024-08-17}}
Background
A flyweight bout between former UFC Flyweight Championship challenger (also former LFA Flyweight Champion) Brandon Royval and undefeated prospect Tatsuro Taira headlined the event.{{Cite web|url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2024/08/ufc-news-brandon-royval-vs-tatsuro-taira-booked-main-event|title=UFC books Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira to headline October event|publisher=mmajunkie.usatoday.com|author=Nolan King|date=2024-08-01|access-date=2024-08-01}}
A middleweight bout between Brad Tavares and Park Jun-yong was expected to take place at UFC on ESPN: Lemos vs. Jandiroba in July 2024, but it was scrapped when Park was not medically cleared after the weigh-ins.{{Cite web|url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2024/07/ufc-espn-60-junyong-park-not-medically-cleared-co-main-event-vs-brad-tavares-canceled-las-vegas|title=Junyong Park not medically cleared, UFC on ESPN 60 co-main event vs. Brad Tavares scrapped|author=Staff|publisher=sherdog.com|date=2024-07-19|access-date=2024-07-19}} They were then rescheduled for this event.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mmanews.com/news/ufc/brandon-royval-vs-tatsuro-taira-headline-apex-ufc-fight-night-october/|title=Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira set to headline Apex-held UFC Fight Night On October 12|author=Harvey Leonard|publisher=mmanews.com|date=2024-08-01|access-date=2024-08-01}}
A bantamweight bout between former UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt and former LFA Bantamweight Champion Miles Johns was scheduled for this event.{{Cite web|url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2024/07/ufc-news-cody-garbrandt-vs-miles-johns-apex|title=Former UFC champ Cody Garbrandt expected to return vs. Miles Johns|publisher=mmajunkie.usatoday.com|author=Nolan King and Farah Hannoun|date=2024-07-18|access-date=2024-07-18}} However, the bout was moved to UFC Fight Night 247 for unknown reasons.{{Cite web|url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-bellator-pfl-news-matchup-roundup-fight-bookings-schedule-august-5-2024|title=Matchup Roundup: New UFC, PFL, Bellator fights announced in the past week (July 29-Aug. 4)|publisher=mmajunkie.usatoday.com|author=Nolan King|date=2024-08-05|access-date=2024-08-05}}
A women's strawweight bout between Polyana Viana and Cory McKenna was scheduled for this event.{{Cite web|url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2024/08/ufc-news-brandon-royval-vs-tatsuro-taira-booked-main-event|title=UFC books Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira to headline October event|publisher=mmajunkie.usatoday.com|author=Nolan King|date=2024-08-01|access-date=2024-08-01}} However, Viana withdrew from the fight for unknown reasons and was replaced by Julia Polastri.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/mixed-martial-arts/articles/cly414nv9jko|title=McKenna has new Brazilian opponent for UFC return|publisher=bbc.com|author=BBC Sport|date=2024-09-27|access-date=2024-09-27}}
A heavyweight bout between Chris Barnett and former LFA Heavyweight Champion Waldo Cortes-Acosta was scheduled for this event.{{Cite web|url=https://www.si.com/fannation/mma/news/ufc-news-fan-favorite-chris-barnett-returns-to-fight-top-heavyweight-prospect|title=UFC News: Fan-Favorite Chris Barnett Returns to Fight Top Heavyweight Prospect|publisher=si.com|author=Christopher De Santiago|date=2024-07-29|access-date=2024-08-11}} However, Cortes-Acosta withdrew from the fight for unknown reasons and was replaced by Junior Tafa.{{Cite web|url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2024/09/ufc-news-chris-barnett-vs-junior-tafa-waldo-cortes-acosta|title=Chris Barnett gets new opponent for UFC Fight Night 244|publisher=mmajunkie.usatoday.com|author=Nolan King|date=2024-09-29|access-date=2024-09-29}} Subsequently, Barnett withdrew after being unable to travel due to Hurricane Milton and was replaced by promotional newcomer Sean Sharaf.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ntnews.com.au/sport/ufc/watch-junior-tafas-reaction-to-chris-barnett-pulling-out-of-this-weekends-ufc/news-story/95895fd104f6366039e8a5d87006d240|title=Junior Tafa's reaction to Chris Barnett pulling out of this weekend's UFC|publisher=ntnews.com.au|author=Brendan Bradford|date=2024-10-08|access-date=2024-10-09}}
Terrance McKinney was briefly announced to compete on the card in a lightweight bout against a to-be-named opponent.{{Cite web|url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2024/09/ufc-fights-tonight-promotion-upcoming-schedule-september-october|title=Are there UFC fights tonight? Here's the promotion's upcoming schedule after UFC 306 at Sphere|publisher=mmajunkie.usatoday.com|author=Staff|date=2024-09-21|access-date=2024-09-21}} However, he was removed from the card for unknown reasons.{{Cite web|url=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2024/10/ufc-news-chris-barnett-hurricane-milton-withdraw-fight-junior-tafa|title=Hurricane Milton forces Chris Barnett to withdraw from UFC Fight Night 244|publisher=mmajunkie.usatoday.com|author=Nolan King|date=2024-10-09|access-date=2024-10-09}}
At the weigh-ins, three fighters missed weight:{{Cite web|url=https://www.mmafighting.com/2024/10/11/24267919/ufc-vegas-98-weigh-in-results-3-fighters-over-the-limit|title=UFC Vegas 98 weigh-in results: 3 fighters over the limit|publisher=mmafighting.com|author=Alexander K. Lee|date=2024-10-11|access-date=2024-10-11}}
- Jared Gooden weighed in at 172.5 pounds, one and a half pounds over the welterweight non-title fight limit.
- Dan Argueta weighed in at 138.5 pounds, two and a half pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit.
- Josh Fremd weighed in at 189 pounds, three pounds over the middleweight non-title fight limit.
Gooden and Argueta's bouts proceeded at catchweight and they were fined 20 percent of their individual purses which went to their opponents Chidi Njokuani and Cody Haddon respectively. Fremd’s bout with Abdul Razak Alhassan was canceled as a result.
Results
{{MMAevent}}
{{MMAevent card|Main card (ESPN+)}}
{{MMAevent bout
|Flyweight
|def.
|Decision (split) (47–48, 48–47, 48–47)
|5
|5:00
|
}}
{{MMAevent bout
|Middleweight
|def.
|Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)
|3
|5:00
|
}}
{{MMAevent bout
|Catchweight (172.5 lb)
|def.
|Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)
|3
|5:00
|
}}
{{MMAevent bout
|Lightweight
|def.
|TKO (elbows and punches)
|2
|1:42
|
}}
{{MMAevent bout
|Welterweight
|def.
|Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)
|3
|5:00
|
}}
{{MMAevent card|Preliminary card (ESPN+)|header=no}}
{{MMAevent bout
|Flyweight
|Ramazan Temirov
|def.
|TKO (punches)
|1
|2:50
|
}}
{{MMAevent bout
|Featherweight
|def.
|Submission (rear-naked choke)
|1
|4:06
|
}}
{{MMAevent bout
|Welterweight
|def.
|Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)
|3
|5:00
|
}}
{{MMAevent bout
|Heavyweight
|def.
|Sean Sharaf
|TKO (punches)
|2
|2:15
|
}}
{{MMAevent bout
|Women's Strawweight
|Julia Polastri
|def.
|Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 30–27)
|3
|5:00
|
}}
{{MMAevent bout
|Catchweight (138.5 lb)
|Cody Haddon
|def.
|Daniel Argueta
|Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)
|3
|5:00
|
}}
{{MMAevent bout
|Flyweight
|Clayton Carpenter
|def.
|Lucas Rocha
|Technical Submission (rear-naked choke)
|2
|2:12
|
}}
{{MMAevent end|notes=yes}}
Bonus awards
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bjpenn.com/mma-news/ufc-vegas-98/ufc-vegas-98-bonus-report-brandon-royval-and-tatsuro-taira-earn-fotn-honors/|title=UFC Vegas 98 Bonus Report: Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira earn FOTN honors|publisher=bjpenn.com|author=Chris Taylor|date=2024-10-12|access-date=2024-10-12}}
- Fight of the Night: Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira
- Performance of the Night: Ramazan Temirov and Clayton Carpenter
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{UFC Events}}
{{2024 in mixed martial arts}}
Category:Ultimate Fighting Championship events in Enterprise, Nevada