LAS VEGAS, NV – OCTOBER 11: Japan’s Tatsuro Heira poses on the scale during the UFC Fight Night weigh-in at UFC APEX on October 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
UFC Vegas 98 featured a five-fight main card with a number of highly competitive matches. In the main event, 24-year-old Japanese flyweight contender Tatsuro Hira suffered his first career loss as Brandon Roybal escaped with a split decision victory. And in the main event, lifelong veteran Brad Tavares dropped a hard-fought battle with Jun Yong Park in another split decision. With so many fighters in their respective divisions, there could be some good matches scheduled from this card.
Hirataro
Although Hirataro put on a great performance, he ultimately lost a split decision to Brandon Roybal in the main event of UFC Vegas 98. Saturday’s loss to Hirataro was his first loss in mixed martial arts, both as an amateur and a professional (coming into the fight, he was 16-0 as a pro and 9-0 as an amateur).
Tatsuro entered the fight ranked 5th in the UFC flyweight rankings and Roybal ranked 1st.
Tatsuro’s next fight will be a little difficult in terms of how many moving parts will happen at 125 pounds. the current. The most meaningful fight would be against Steve Arseg. Steve is recovering from two devastating losses. He failed to win the title against Alexandre Pantoja, and his most recent fight was a first-round stoppage against Kai Kara France. He is just 3-2 in the UFC, compared to Taira’s 6-1 record. It’s an ideal fight at this point, as Erceg is currently ranked 8th and both fighters are still viewed as prospects.
Tatsuro’s next match: Steve Arseg
brad tavares
Brad Tavares suffered a split decision loss in his 25th UFC fight against Jun Yong Park in the main event of UFC Vegas 98. Tavares definitely had his chances during the match, but ultimately couldn’t get the win. Tavares is currently on a two-game losing streak and has won just one of his last five fights.
Taveres’ next opponent will be Albert Durayev. Albert is a 2021 Contender Series competitor and has since gone 2-2 in the UFC. Dulayev’s last fight was in July last year, when he was stopped by Park Joon-young with a rear-naked choke in the second round. Albert was scheduled to fight Robert Blicek in February, but had to withdraw due to visa issues. Given their last opponent in common and the players Dulayev has already faced (Joaquin Buckley, Roman Kopylov), it might make sense to pull Tavares.
Brad’s next fight: Albert Dulayev
Jared Gooden
Jared Gooden lost a three-round unanimous decision to Chidi Njokuani and was the underdog everywhere. The amount of time Jared spent in the clinch against the cage would be his undoing during the match as he would not be able to match his opponent’s output. Gooden is currently 1-2 since leaving the UFC last March.
To make matters worse for Gooden, he ended up dropping weight ahead of his fight with Njokuani. This is the second time Gooden has dropped weight in his third fight and second stint in the UFC. (This is his third weight loss in the UFC.)
Gooden’s next fight in the UFC should be against Kevin Jussette. Kevin just lost by TKO in the second round to Brian Battle last month. (And that too in front of his home crowd.) He’s currently 2-1 with the UFC. Gooden and Giuse were originally scheduled to fight on May 11, but Gooden withdrew due to health issues.
Jared’s next fight: Kevin Giuse
Rafa Garcia
On Saturday night, Rafa Garcia suffered a second-round TKO loss to Grant Dawson, but barely made any headway. This loss ended the winning streak between Maheshate Heissael and Clay Guida at two. Although Garcia was returning from an extended absence due to a serious knee injury, this loss is a significant setback.
Rafa Garcia is supposed to fight Elf Brenner in his next battle. Elfs is 3-2 in the UFC, but is on a two-fight losing streak, losing to Miktibek Olorubai in August and most recently Joel Alvarez. His two performance bonuses during his time in the UFC have shown him to be a dangerous striker, and he would be a good matchup for Garcia against the grappling-heavy Grant Dawson.
Rafa’s next battle: Elf Brenner
Alex Morono
Alex Morono lost a clear lead in the first round and ultimately lost a split decision to Daniel Rodriguez to start the main card of UFC Vegas 98. It’s definitely a gut-wrenching loss for Morono. That’s because the veteran has lost his last two games and three of his last four.
Morono has fought many weight classes, but his new match will be the winner of Mike Marotte vs. Trevin Giles. The battle will conclude on November 2nd. Giles has lost his last match and Marotte has lost his last two matches. Either fight would make sense, as Morono came extremely close to winning Saturday’s match.
Alex’s next match: Mike Marotte vs. Trevin Giles winner
