A flyweight bout takes center stage Saturday night when Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira are set to square off. This contest will be the main event of UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, with the main UFC fight card set for 7 p.m. ET. This fight features two of the top five fighters in the flyweight class. Royval is ranked No. 1 and owns a record of 16-7. He's won four of his last five fights. Meanwhile, Taira is 16-0 thus far in his career.
Taira is a -320 favorite (risk $320 to win $100), while Royval is priced at +250 (risk $100 to win $250) in the latest UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira odds, with that fight listed at +140 to go the distance. In the co-main event, middleweight prospects take the spotlight as Jun Yong Park (-210) takes on Brad Tavares (+175). Before making any UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira picks, make sure you see the MMA predictions and betting advice from SportsLine expert Daniel Vithlani.
Vithlani made his SportsLine debut in January 2023 and swept the main card for UFC 283 with a 5-0 record and has been a consistent winner ever since. His highlights include predicting an upset for Sean O'Malley (+210) against Aljamain Sterling (-250) at UFC 292 as part of a 4-1 main card and his UFC 299 winners included underdog selections on Poirier (+190) against Saint Denis (-230) and Michael Page (+110) against Kevin Holland (-130). His main-card picks netted his followers a profit of more than $1,500 in 2023. Anyone who has followed him has seen massive returns.
Now, with UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira on deck, Vithlani has studied the card from top to bottom and released his top selections. You can only see his picks and analysis at SportsLine.
Top UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira picks
This is expected to be a bout between two of the best fighters in the flyweight class. Royval has a 16-7 record and fell short in his championship bid last year at UFC 296. He's fresh off a split-decision victory over Brandon Moreno back in February. He's currently the No. 1 ranked contender in the class, but is looking for a title shot. Royval fought Alexandre Pantoja in December 2023 for the flyweight tight but lost via unanimous decision.
In the meantime, Taira, the No. 5 contender, is seeking to climb the rankings quickly and be a threat to the title. Taira began his fighting career in 2018, where he competed in Japan before being signed by the UFC in 2022. He's started his career with 16 straight wins, which include five via knockout and seven by submission.
Royval is a powerful fighter who can string along a nice combination of strikes. He'll use his left kick whenever given the opportunity then use his jab to stun his opponents. His range of different moves features hooks, jabs and kicks. In his career, he has four wins by knockout, nine wins by submission and 10 first-round finishes.
Taira is tough to stop when he's able to successfully grapple. In his UFC career, he's been able to control his opponents for 54.5 percent of his fight time. He also has the second-highest submission attempt average in flyweight history, committing 2.47 submission attempts per 15 minutes. Taira can also deliver stunning blows with his legs and arms. He defeated Alex Perez via knockout in June. You can only see his picks and analysis at SportsLine.
UFC Fight Night predictions
We'll reveal one of Vithlani's UFC Fight Night selections here: He is backing Jonathan Pearce (-180) to get past Pat Sabatini (+150) in a featherweight matchup on the preliminary card.
"Pearce is a physical wrestler who can keep positional control and smother his opponents," Vithlani told SportsLine. "His wrestling will be up against the slick Ju-Jitsu of Sabatini, who has a bevy of submission attacks in his arsenal. Pearce got arrogant in his last fight and, after dominating the early portion of it, he got caught in a chokehold. If he doesn't get careless Saturday, I see Pearce out-wrestling and out-striking Sabatini for the win." See who else to back here.
How to make UFC Fight Night picks
Vithlani has strong picks for Royval vs. Taira and other bouts on the UFC Fight Night card. He's also backing a fighter who "crafty boxer and a strong grappler" to emerge with a huge victory. Those picks and predictions are only available at SportsLine.
Who wins UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira, and how exactly does each fight end? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks on UFC Fight Night, all from the MMA expert who profited more than $1,500 on his UFC main-card picks, and find out.
UFC Fight Night odds, main fight card
See full UFC Fight Night picks, predictions, best bets here.
Brandon Royval (+250) vs. Tatsuro Taira (-320)
Brad Tavares (+175) vs. Jun Yong Park (-210)
Chidi Njokuani (-175) vs. Jared Gooden (+145)
Grant Dawson (-400) vs. Rafa Garcia (+310)
Daniel Rodriguez (-210) vs. Alex Morono (+175)
