BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Tatsuro Taira vs.
Brandon Royval

Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.

8-2-0 Tatsuro Taira · UFC
8-5-0 Brandon Royval · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.

8-2-0
UFC record
8-5-0
Flyweight
Division (benchmark)
Flyweight
26.5
AgeΔ 7.5 yrs
34
5'7"
HeightΔ 2"
5'9"
70"
ReachΔ 2"
68"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
2.9
Layoff (months)Δ 2 mo
0.9
LWWLW
Last 5 (newest first)
WLLWW
The read

What the numbers say.

Scouting notes, auto-generated — only stats deviating more than 25% from the division median make this list. No narratives, just deviations.

Tatsuro Taira owns the mat — in control 54% of cage time, vs a 17% Flyweight norm.
Tatsuro Taira hunts takedowns — 3.57 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.30 Flyweight norm.
Brandon Royval is a submission threat — 1.18 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.58 Flyweight norm.
Level of competition

Who did they actually beat?

Full-career records re-graded by the tier of opposition — the same grading the Contender Series pick model uses. Records built on tier-4 competition are worth less than records built on killers.

Tatsuro Taira

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 82
Tier 3 — regional circuit 100

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.71 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 14 finish wins over 20 documented bouts

In the UFC: 4-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.4 wins over .500

Brandon Royval

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 85
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 62
Tier 3 — regional circuit 42

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.1 · 14 tier-1/2 wins · 14 finish wins over 27 documented bouts

In the UFC: 6-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.3 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

3372.87/min · norm 3.49
Sig. strikes landed
8525.60/min · norm 3.49
3653.10/min · norm 3.24
Sig. strikes absorbed
6454.24/min · norm 3.24
54.4%norm 44.6%
Striking accuracy
42.6%norm 44.6%
44.0%norm 56.4%
Striking defense
42.8%norm 56.4%
30.38/15 · norm 0.18
Knockdowns
30.30/15 · norm 0.18

Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)

Tatsuro Taira

Distance 66.0% (norm 85.1%) · Clinch 4.2% (norm 6.0%) · Ground 29.8% (norm 7.3%)

Brandon Royval

Distance 91.5% (norm 85.1%) · Clinch 3.1% (norm 6.0%) · Ground 5.4% (norm 7.3%)

What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)

Tatsuro Taira

Head 85.2% (norm 75.9%) · Body 6.1% (norm 13.3%) · Legs 8.7% (norm 9.3%)

Brandon Royval

Head 87.3% (norm 75.9%) · Body 8.6% (norm 13.3%) · Legs 4.1% (norm 9.3%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.

Zone Taira L/AAccFlyweight med Royval L/AAccFlyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 183 / 409 44.7% 40.0% 729 / 1830 39.8% 40.0%
In the clinch 14 / 26 53.8% 70.4% 47 / 62 75.8% 70.4%
On the ground 140 / 185 75.7% 69.7% 76 / 109 69.7% 69.7%
BY TARGET
To the head 263 / 528 49.8% 37.6% 673 / 1746 38.5% 37.6%
To the body 26 / 38 68.4% 68.5% 123 / 173 71.1% 68.5%
To the legs 48 / 54 88.9% 80.0% 56 / 82 68.3% 80.0%

Zones with fewer than 25 attempts are marked "too few to rate". Each fighter is measured against the median of leaderboard-eligible fighters in his own division (Flyweight: 73 fighters · Flyweight: 73 fighters).

What lands on them Opponents' accuracy against each man

Green ≤ division median — harder to hit than the typical man in his division.

Zone vs Taira L/AOpp accFlyweight med vs Royval L/AOpp accFlyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 291 / 563 51.7% 40.1% 549 / 976 56.2% 40.1%
In the clinch 33 / 39 84.6% 68.8% 47 / 74 63.5% 68.8%
On the ground 41 / 50 82.0% 71.1% 49 / 78 62.8% 71.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 299 / 557 53.7% 35.2% 379 / 813 46.6% 35.2%
To the body 46 / 62 74.2% 68.2% 138 / 173 79.8% 68.2%
To the legs 20 / 33 60.6% 80.3% 128 / 142 90.1% 80.3%
Grappling

The ground war.

Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.

2843.8% acc · 3.57/15 · norm 1.30
Takedowns landed
964.3% acc · 0.89/15 · norm 1.30
646.2% def · norm 62.5%
Takedowns stopped
2945.3% def · norm 62.5%
63:2153.9% of cage time · norm 17.0%
Control time
14:249.5% of cage time · norm 17.0%
9:581:16 per 15 · norm 2:44
Time under control
53:195:15 per 15 · norm 2:44
101.28/15 · norm 0.58
Submission attempts
121.18/15 · norm 0.58

Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Royval has more cage time on record.

Next move

Let the engine settle it.