Dana White and co. have chosen an excellent matchup to headline its UFC Fight Night Vegas 93 on October 12. After all, Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira is undoubtedly one of the most exciting fights in the entire 125-pound division. A prodigal talent in #5 ranked Tatsuro Taira, who has been tearing up the division, will face perhaps the toughest opponent of his life in perennial title contender #1 Brandon Royval.

And the stakes are high. If Taira wins, he will be at the front of the line to fight for the UFC flyweight title currently held by Alexandre Pantoja. Meanwhile, ‘Raw Dawg’ finds himself in a fierce battle to retain his spot as the second-best fighter at 125, with Brandon Moreno, currently ranked third, relentlessly chasing after him. With less than forty-eight hours to go before the electric Royval-Tatsuro clash at the Apex, let us take a look at how they stack up and our prediction for the fight.

UFC Fight Night: Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira stats

Physically, Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira match up pretty evenly. While the 5’9″ ‘Raw Dawg’ has a two-inch height advantage, the Japanese prodigy has a two-inch reach advantage with his 70″ wingspan to neutralize it. What is much more contrasting are their record and their average fight stats.

Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira both have sixteen professional MMA fights on their record. But while Taira is undefeated, Royval has seven losses, three of them in the UFC. It should be noted that all three of his UFC losses have been to current and future UFC champions, one of which he avenged in his last octagon outing against Moreno.

While Taira is most famous for his submissions, his striking is also quite outstanding. While his four shots landed per minute on average is impressive by itself, what is scary is his 65% accuracy rate. Here Royval is not far behind with three and a half shots landed per minute. However, with only 36% of shots landed, his accuracy is much lower than the undefeated Japanese.

The Okinawa resident is the Floyd Mayweather of UFC flyweights and is an absolute master when it comes to not being hit. Taira, on average, absorbs less than two strikes per minute, which is a record among active UFC flyweights. He also stacks up excellently against the American in this category, since Royval absorbs more than double the shots Taira does per minute at around four.

Taira has virtually no holes in his game and is exceptional on the ground, too. While Royval successfully takes down his opponents once every two rounds on average, Taira is far more successful and averages around two takedowns per round. Their submission rates continue this theme and tell the same story, with the Japanese star attempting twice the submissions per round at two on average to Royval’s one.

There is also an eight-year age difference between 24-year-old Taira and the 32-year-old Royval. As the younger man, Taira may be expected to be a bit more athletic, but the American’s extensive experience will most probably cancel that advantage out. But how is their fight likely to play out? Let’s take a look.

Royval vs. Taira breakdown and prediction

The stats indicate that Taira is a better striker and a better grappler than the former title contender. But MMA is way too unpredictable to make any stats off of the numbers alone. But stats aside, from the eye test, too, Tatsuro Taira is the best striker in the division at the moment.

As we have seen, he is scarily accurate and hits at a high volume. But what makes him a real nightmare and sets him apart from his peers is the triad of speed, power, and accuracy he possesses on his feet. As far as power is concerned, however, Royval’s power is not to be underestimated, even if he isn’t quite as quick or accurate as the Japanese prodigy.

Taira also has the better grappling skills of the two; though Royval does have a mean and very effective guillotine choke in his submission repertoire. However, their matchup on the ground is more even than on the feet, which is why we feel that Royval’s best chance at beating Taira will be in grappling exchanges.

But what sets Royval apart from anyone Taira has faced before is his incredible toughness and the rub of fighting at the highest levels against the very best in the world. This is most likely to be the biggest challenge before the Japanese as he looks to challenge for the title next. Our official prediction is a Taira victory within the stipulated five rounds. But we cannot rule out the American veteran just yet. After all, the American has all the intangibles to give the undefeated flyweight a round trip to hell.

The betting odds are heavily in favor of Taira, who is going into the October 12 clash as the two-to-one or three-to-one betting favorite. However, it’s important to note that Royval is more than capable of surprising everyone with an upset victory. There is, after all, no substitute for heart and raw strength of will. What are your predictions for Royval-Taira? Let us know in the comments section below.