UFC Fight Night Betting Preview: Tatsuro Taira Hopes to Break Glass Ceiling

Making the leap to the UFC hasn’t phased Tatsuro Taira. The Japanese flyweight is 16-0 in his career and is 6-0 since joining the UFC. Taira hasn’t appeared out of place at all, winning four of his six fights in the UFC by stoppage.

A look at MMAfighting latest news shows that Taira’s most impressive win was his last one. While Taira won by knockout after former title challenger Alex Perez suffered an injury during the fight, it was largely Taira’s grappling that caused the pain. What stood out about Taira’s fight with Perez was he didn’t just lean on his grappling.

Taira was willing to engage on the feet and is a well-rounded fighter. His opponent this weekend, Brandon Royval, will test Taira’s gas tank. Royval is an all-action fighter who likes to fire out heavy volume.

Royval is also a good grappler, but he may not want to test Taira on the ground. Royval is a former title challenger who is coming off a split-decision win over former champion Brandon Moreno. During that fight, Royval won based on pure volume alone.

This will be a difficult test for Taira, who is searching to become the seventh Japanese fighter to fight for a UFC title. The first six fighters all failed to capture gold.

This number seems a little high on Taira to win. Royval is a capable fighter who could win this fight based on volume. Instead, I would like one of the fighters to secure a submission before the championship rounds start.

Bets to consider: Under 3.5 rounds

Iron Turtle Will Test Tavares

Brad Tavares and Park Jun-yong were supposed to meet in July. But Park, also known by his fighter name, “Iron Turtle,” wasn’t medically cleared to compete. Now, everything seems to be in order for these two to meet.

Tavares is the better striker, while Park tends to lean on his grappling. However, the best MMA news site shows that Tavares has never been submitted. Tavares is coming off a nasty knockout loss to Gregory Rodrigues.

Tavares will try to keep things standing against Park, who has five wins by submission. This one should go the distance.

Bets to consider: Over 2.5 rounds, Park by decision

Grappling Specialists Set to Collide

Grant Dawson loves to wrestle. Even if fans would rather see him finish fights, Dawson has made it clear that he doesn’t plan to switch up his wrestling-heavy style. Nor should he really.

Dawson is 21-2 in his career, with 13 wins by submission. He bounced back from a devastating KO loss to Bobby Green in October 2023 to win a decision over Joe Solecki in June. Dawson will now be paired up with Rafa Garcia, who has submitted eight of his opponents.

Garcia hasn’t had any luck wrapping up his opponents recently. His last three fights have gone the distance. With how both men like to fight, this one may go the distance as well.

Bets to consider: Over 2.5 rounds, Dawson by decision

Polastri Seeks Strong Sophomore Effort

Former LFA women’s strawweight champion Julia Polastri didn’t appear out of place during her debut during her first UFC fight. Polastri won a round and appeared to be ready for the big stage. But she still lost.

Now Polastri is stepping in for fellow Brazilian Polyana Viera to fight Cory McKenna. McKenna is a strong wrestler who is coming off a difficult loss to Jaqueline Amorim via first-round armbar. McKenna’s UFC career has mostly been up-and-down. If McKenna wrestles well, she can win this fight.

But Polastri should be the most effective striker.

Bets to consider: Polastri -140

Is Daniel Rodriguez Done?

Daniel Rodrigeuz looked like a fighter who was going to stick in the rankings for a long time. While the best MMA news sites may not have seen Rodriguez as a future title challenger, he is a solid fighter who can push veterans into a good performance.

But Rodriguez, who is taking on Alex Morono this weekend, will need to try and recapture some of that spirit. Rodriguez has lost three consecutive fights, including one by submission and one by knockout. During Rodriguez’s last fight against Kelvin Gastelum, Rodriguez struggled to engage with the former title challenger.

Morono is also coming off a disappointing loss to Niko Price. During Morono’s last four fights, he has traded wins and losses. Rodriguez has a higher pedigree, but it is worth taking a shot on Morono pulling out a win over the declining Rodriguez.

Bets to consider: Morono +160, Over 2.5 rounds

Razak Alhassan Seeks Another Knockout

Josh Fremd is 2-4 in the UFC and enters his fight with Abdul Razak Alhassan coming off two consecutive losses. Fremd has been finished twice in the UFC but has found success when he is able to lean on his wrestling. Alhassan is going to be the type of fighter who wants to hit the mats.

Alhassan has 12 wins via knockout and has never submitted anyone. During his past four fights, Alhassan isn’t in a good run of form either. He is coming off a no contest against Cody Brundage, where Alhassan hit Brundage with accidental elbows to the back of the head, which left Brundage unable to continue.

Before that Alhassan got submitted by Joe Pyfer. This is a striker vs. grappler matchup. If Fremd decides to keep the fight standing, this could be ugly.

Bets to consider: Under 1.5 rounds, Alhassan by KO/TKO/DQ

Here are some quick picks for the rest of the card:

Welterweight, Chidi Njokuani (-190) vs. Jared Gooden (+145)

Flyweight, C.J. Vergara (+215) vs. Ramazan Temirov (-285)

Featherweight, Jonathan Pearce (-145) vs. Pat Sabatini (+115)

Welterweight, Themba Gorimbo (-300) vs. Niko Price (+225)

Heavyweight, Chris Barnett (+280) vs. Junior Tafa (-380)

Bantamweight, Daniel Argueta (+155) vs. Cody Haddon (-200)

Flyweight, Clayton Carpenter (-200) vs. Lucas Rocha (+155)

Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.

By Dean McHugh.