The UFC continued its jam-packed October schedule on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 244 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and the main event produced one of the best fights of 2024.
Flyweight contenders Brandon Royval (17-7 MMA, 7-3 UFC) and Tatsuro Taira (16-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) went to battle for 25 minutes, with the former coming out on top by split decision to end the undefeated run of his Japanese foe.
For more on the numbers to come out of the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 244.
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Event stats
The UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payout for the event totaled $186,000.
Debuting fighters went 2-2 at the event.
Royval, Taira, Ramazan Temirov and Clayton Carpenter earned $50,000 UFC Fight Night 244 fight-night bonuses.
The UFC sold VIP tickets to fans for UFC Fight Night 244, but the promotion did not make public the total number of tickets sold or the gate.
Betting favorites went 10-2 on the card.
Betting favorites fell to 24-10 in UFC headliners this year.
Total fight time for the 12-bout card was 2:23:05.
Brandon Royval def. Tatsuro Taira
Royval improved to 2-0 in UFC main events.
Royval’s five fight-night bonuses for UFC flyweight bouts are tied for fourth-most in divisional history behind Demetrious Johnson (nine), Brandon Moreno (seven) and Kai Kara-France (six).
Royval’s four Fight of the Night bonuses for UFC flyweight bouts are tied with Moreno for most in divisional history.
Taira had his 16-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.
JunYong Park def. Brad Tavares
Junyong Park (18-6 MMA, 8-3 UFC) has earned five of his eight UFC victories by decision.
Brad Tavares (20-10 MMA, 15-10 UFC) fell to 1-4 in his past five fights dating back to July 2022.
Tavares’ total fight time of 5:22:35 in UFC middleweight competition is the most in divisional history. He passed Michael Bisping (5:15:15).
Tavares has suffered five of his 10 career losses by decision.
Chidi Njokuani def. Jared Gooden
Chidi Njokuani (24-10 MMA, 4-3 UFC) improved to 2-0 since he dropped to the UFC welterweight division in March 2024.
Jared Gooden (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC) fell to 1-2 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in March 2023.
Gooden has suffered eight of his 10 career losses by decision. That includes all five of his UFC losses.
Grant Dawson def. Rafa Garcia
Grant Dawson (22-2-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) improved to 6-1-1 since he moved up to the UFC lightweight division in March 2020.
Dawson has earned 18 of his 22 career victories by stoppage.
Rafa Garcia (16-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) suffered the first stoppage loss of his career with a TKO defeat.
Daniel Rodriguez def. Alex Morono
Daniel Rodriguez (18-5 MMA, 8-4 UFC) snapped his three-fight losing skid for his first victory since September 2022.
Rodriguez has earned five of his eight UFC victories by decision.
Alex Morono (24-11 MMA, 13-8 UFC) has suffered eight of his 12 career losses by decision.
Ramazan Temirov def. CJ Vergara
CJ Vergara (12-6-1 MMA, 3-4 UFC) suffered the first knockout loss of his career.
Pat Sabatini def. Jonathan Pearce
Pat Sabatini (19-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) has earned 14 of his 19 career victories by stoppage.
Jonathan Pearce’s (14-7 MMA, 5-4 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since December 2022.
Pearce has suffered five of his seven career losses by stoppage. That includes three of his four UFC defeats.
Themba Gorimbo def. Niko Price
Themba Gorimbo (14-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) has earned three of his four UFC victories by decision.
Junior Tafa def. Sean Sharaf
Junior Tafa (6-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) has earned all six of his career victories by knockout.
Sean Sharaf (4-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) had his four-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.
Cody Haddon def. Dan Argueta
Cody Haddon (8-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) earned the first decision victory of his career.
Dan Argueta’s (9-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC) four-fight winless skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since January 2023.
Argueta fell to 0-2 with two no contests since he dropped to the UFC bantamweight division in June 2023.
Argueta has suffered two of his three career losses by decision.
Clayton Carpenter def. Lucas Rocha
Carpenter (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) has earned both of his UFC victories by submission.
Lucas Rocha (17-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered both of his career losses by stoppage.
Rocha suffered the first submission loss of his career.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 244.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on X @MJCflipdascript.
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