UFC on ESPN+ 102 live results: Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira

The Octagon is back inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC on ESPN+ 102.

The main event is a potential title eliminator bout in the flyweight division as former title challenger and number one ranked contender Brandon Royval takes on undefeated number five contender Tatsuro Taira. Royval is looking for his second straight win after defeating Brandon Moreno in February, while Taira is looking to keep his 16-fight win streak in tact.

Also on the main card is a middleweight bout pitting Brad Tavares against Jun Yong Park; a welterweight bout between Chidi Njokuani and Jared Gooden; a lightweight fight between Grant Dawson and Rafa Garcia; and a welterweight main card opener with Daniel Rodriguez against Alex Morono.

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> Flyweights- Clayton Carpenter (7-0, 1-0 UFC) vs. Lucas Rocha (17-1, 0-0 UFC)

Carpenter lands a left hand. Rocha lands a right hand. They trade in close range as Rocha lands to the body. Carpenter lands a leg kick. Rocha with a right hand and Carpenter lands a left hook and an uppercut. Rocha lands a high kick and Carpenter lands inside the pocket. Carpenter scores a takedown. Carpenter lands from the top and Rocha is cut open from an elbow. Rocha tries to scramble out and Carpenter grabs the neck, but he ends up on top. Carpenter lands from the top. Carpenter with a big elbow. 10-9 Carpenter.

Carpenter lands a quick flurry. Carpenter trips Rocha up with a kick. Carpenter with a flurry as Rocha lands a flying knee and right hand. Carpenter scores a takedown and takes the back. Carpenter looking for an opening for a choke. He has it locked in and is squeezing. Rocha is fighting it but he falls asleep and it is all over! Great work and finish from Carpenter to pick up the win.

Official Result- Clayton Carpenter def. Lucas Rocha by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:12 of Round 2

> Bantamweights*- Dan Argueta (9-2 2 NC, 1-2 2 NC UFC) vs. Cody Haddon (7-1, 0-0 UFC)

*Argueta missed weight by 2.5 pounds

Argueta gets Haddon down early with a single-leg takedown. They scramble up. Argueta lands a right hand as Haddon lands a combination. Argueta grabs a body lock and looks for a takedown but Haddon defends. Haddon lands a combination and they are trading. Argueta looks for a takedown. They trade big punches. Haddon landing lots of punches. Haddon pushing Argueta against the fence and lands a knee. Haddon landing the jab. Argueta lands a stiff right hand and Haddon fires back. Argueta looks for a takedown against the fence and they break at the end. 10-9 Haddon.

Haddon lands a big right hand. Haddon lands and scores a takedown and is in side control. Haddon lands and jumps on the back but Argueta is able to shake him off and ends up on top. Argueta lands and Haddon is cut open. They scramble up and they separate. Haddon rocks Argueta with a big knee. Argueta looks for a takedown but Haddon defends. Haddon lands a combination. Haddon with some big punches and Argueta lands a right hand. 10-9 Haddon, 20-18 Haddon.

Haddon lands a pair of right hands. Haddon lands a combination. Both miss spinning attacks. Haddon with a jab and a left hand. They tie up and Haddon lands to the body. Argueta with some dirty boxing along the fence. Haddon lands and Argueta is wobbled. Argueta looking more tired. Argueta with a leg kick that trips Haddon up for a brief moment. Haddon with a jab. Haddon with a combination. Haddon lands a right hand. Argueta scores a takedown. They scramble up and Haddon lands. Argueta looking for late takedowns but Haddon is defending and landing. 10-9 Haddon, 30-27 Haddon.

Official Result- Cody Haddon def. Dan Argueta by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

> Women’s Strawweights- Julia Polastri (12-4, 0-1 UFC) vs. Cory McKenna (8-3, 3-2 UFC)

Polastri with a leg kick and lands a knee. They clinch against the fence and Polastri lands some knees. McKenna reverses and presses Polastri against the fence and they trade knees. Polastri reverses and lands an elbow then an uppercut and they separate. McKenna lands a right hand. Polastri lands a flying knee. They trade against the fence. Polastri lands to the body. Polastri with a right hand. They clinch and Polastri lands a knee. Polastri with a pair of knees then an elbow. McKenna with short uppercuts. 10-9 Polastri.

They trade to start the second. Polastri pushes it to the fence and lands a knee in the clinch. McKenna reverses and lands before Polastri reverses and lands, then they break. McKenna with a high kick and Polastri lands a left hand. Polastri drops down for a takedown and has the back. Polastri with several knees to McKenna’s leg. McKenna reverses and lands some knees against the fence before they separate. McKenna lands a combo. McKenna with a right hand. McKenna with a pair of combinations. Polastri with a left hand to the body. They trade and Polastri with a pair of knees. 10-9 Polastri, 20-18 Polastri.

They start trading inside the pocket and Polastri lands some knees. They trade left hands. Polastri pressuring and lands some solid right hands. Polastri lands a stiff left hand. They clinch against the fence and Polastri with an elbow and some knees. McKenna reverses position as Polastri pushes her head down. Polastri defending the takedown attempt with a few hammerfists. McKenna is able to score the takedown. McKenna lands from the top. Polastri tries to sweep but McKenna stays on top and continues to land. McKenna with an elbow. McKenna landing from the top as the fight ends. 10-9 McKenna, 29-28 Polastri.

Official Result- Julia Polastri def. Cory McKenna by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

> Heavyweights- Junior Tafa (5-3, 1-3 UFC) vs. Sean Sharaf (4-0, 0-0 UFC)

Sharaf throwing big punches to start. Tafa lands a left hand and a counter right hand. Sharaf with a combo. Tafa lands a right hand. Sharaf looks for a takedown and Tafa grabs the fence big time to defend. He gets a warning. Tafa lands a jab and right hand. Sharaf gets a takedown but Tafa quickly gets up. They trade inside the pocket. Sharaf with a big flurry. Sharaf with a left hand. Sharaf with a leg kick then a left hand. Tafa lands some left hooks. Tafa with some jabs and a knee. Sharaf with a leg kick then a left hand. Tafa with a right hand and an uppercut. Sharaf lands a combo and scores a takedown. Sharaf is on top and landing punches. Sharaf with big punches and elbows but Tafa survives. 10-9 Sharaf.

They trade. Tafa with a big flurry. Tafa lands a knee and they break apart. Both look tired. Tafa with a big right hand and Sharaf is backing away. Tafa with big punches and Sharaf has nothing left. Tafa with more big shots. Tafa lands a right hand and an uppercut as Sharaf begins to stumble and it is stopped. Big finish from Tafa after nearly getting finished at the end of the first.

Official Result- Junior Tafa def. Sean Sharaf by TKO (punches) at 2:15 of Round 2

> Welterweights- Themba Gorimbo (13-4, 3-1 UFC) vs. Niko Price (16-7 2 NC, 8-7 2 NC UFC)

Gorimbo with a front kick and they trade in close range. Gorimbo lands a big right hand and Price was rocked for a moment. Gorimbo with a solid right hand. Gorimbo with a leg kick. He lands another right hand. Gorimbo lands a leg kick then scores a takedown. Gorimbo landing from the top as he passes to half-guard. Gorimbo gets the back as they stand and looks for a choke but lets go. Price tries to slam him down as they go to the mat. Gorimbo still has the back as the round ends. 10-9 Gorimbo.

Price with a leg kick and Gorimbo lands a combination. Gorimbo lands some more punches. They trade against the fence and Gorimbo gets a takedown. Gorimbo starts landing a bunch of punches and is looking for the finish. They get to their feet as Gorimbo has the back. Gorimbo gets Price back down but they quickly get up. Gorimbo trying to get it down but Price is defending. They continue to battle for underhooks before separating. Gorimbo lands an uppercut. Price lands a right hand. Gorimbo with a combo. Gorimbo scores a takedown. Gorimbo gets the back and lands before they stand. Gorimbo gets it back down late. 10-9 Gorimbo, 20-18 Gorimbo.

Price lands a combo and Gorimbo looks for a takedown. He is able to complete it. Gorimbo inside the guard of Price and is landing. Price with short punches. Gorimbo is controlling an arm and keeps landing from the top. Price has been unable to get out from the bottom. Gorimbo controlling from the half-guard. Price is able to scramble to his feet. Gorimbo still has the body and gets a takedown. Gorimbo on the back as they stand. Price lands some short punches. 10-9 Gorimbo, 30-27 Gorimbo.

Official Result- Themba Gorimbo def. Niko Price by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

> Featherweights- Jonathan Pearce (14-6, 5-3 UFC) vs. Pat Sabatini (18-5, 5-2 UFC)

Pearce lands a leg kick. They scramble and Sabatini jumps on the back of Pearce. Sabatini has the body triangle and is landing punches. Sabatini lets go of the body triangle and they are both on the feet as Sabatini has the back. Sabatini lands and scores a takedown. Pearce landing from the bottom. Sabatini gets the top mount and then gets the back. They stand and Sabatini jumps back up on the back. Sabatini locks in a rear-naked choke and is squeezing and Pearce taps! Sabatini with a strong performance.

Official Result- Pat Sabatini def. Jonathan Pearce by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:06 of Round 1

> Flyweights- CJ Vergara (12-5-1, 3-3 UFC) vs. Ramazon Temirov (17-2, 0-0 UFC)

Temirov lands a spin kick to the body. Temirov lands a solid combination. Temirov lands and drops Vergara with a left hand. He gets up and Temirov lands and Vergara goes down again. Vergara gets up and is running away but Temirov is catching him and landing a lot of punches. Temirov landing against the fence and lands to the body and Vergara goes down and it is over. What a performance from Temirov!

Official Result- Ramazan Temirov def. CJ Vergara by TKO (punches) at 2:50 of Round 1

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> Welterweights- Daniel Rodriguez (17-5, 7-4 UFC) vs. Alex Morono (24-10 1 NC, 13-7 1 NC UFC)

Morono with a leg kick and lands a right hand. Rodriguez lands to the body and Morono landing with more volume. Rodriguez lands a leg kick and Morono counters with a right hand. They trade high kicks. Morono lands but Rodriguez stuns him with a counter left hand. Morono with a right hand as Rodriguez lands a leg kick. Rodriguez lands a body kick as Morono fires back with a combination. Morono landing with more volume and lands a solid combination. 10-9 Morono.

They trade jabs to start the second. Morono lands a body kick. They trade in close range as Rodriguez lands a right hook. Morono lands a right hand. Rodriguez working the jab and lands a leg kick. Rodriguez lands a body kick. Morono lands a right hand. Rodriguez lands a body kick. Morono with an overhand right and Rodriguez counters with a left hand. Morono lands a right hand. Morono with another right hand followed by a leg kick. Morono with some body kicks. They both land in close. Rodriguez lands a left hand to the body then the head. Morono lands a right hand. Close round. 10-9 Rodriguez, 19-19.

Morono with a teet kick. Morono lands a right hand. Rodriguez with a combo then a front kick. Rodriguez lands a leg kick. Morono with an overhand right. Rodriguez lands a left hand and Morono stumbles a little. Morono lands a right hand. Morono lands a jab then a right hand, then Rodriguez fires back with a combination. Rodriguez lands to the body. Morono lands a right hand. Rodriguez lands a straight left hand. Rodriguez lands and they clinch against the fence. Rodriguez lands to the body and lands a knee then another. Rodriguez lands to the body as they break. Morono lands a right hand. They trade and Rodriguez grabs the body and gets a big takedown late. 10-9 Rodriguez, 29-28 Rodriguez.

Official Result- Daniel Rodriguez def. Alex Morono by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

> Lightweights- Grant Dawson (21-2-1, 9-1-1 UFC) vs. Rafa Garcia (16-3, 4-3 UFC)

Dawson lands a jab and Garcia lands a right hand. Dawson with a high kick. Dawson shoots for a takedown and Garcia is landing to defend. Dawson is able to complete the takedown. Dawson landing from inside the guard of Garcia. Dawson with some big punches from the top. Dawson continuing to control and land from the top. Dawson with some body punches. Dawson ends the round landing from the top. 10-9 Dawson.

Dawson with a right hand then a spin kick. Dawson scores a takedown and is inside the guard of Garcia. Dawson starts teeing off from the top and Garcia is busted open and bleeding everywhere. Dawson with lots and lots of punches from the top and it is stopped. Big finish from Dawson.

Official Result- Grant Dawson def. Rafa Garcia by TKO (punches) at 1:42 of Round 2

> Welterweights*- Chidi Njokuani (23-10 1 NC, 3-3 UFC) vs. Jared Gooden (23-9, 2-4 UFC)

*Gooden missed weight by 1.5 pounds

They trade early as Njokuani lands a knee to the body and Gooden gets a takedown. They start scrambling up and down before clinching against the fence. Njokuani landing lots of knees to Gooden’s body against the fence. Njokuani with more knees. Njokuani lands a slicing elbow before going back to landing knees. Njokuani continues to land a lot of knees. Gooden is able to reverse and get the back of Njokuani. They tie back up and Njokuani is landing more knees. 10-9 Njokuani.

Njokuani landing kicks to keep Gooden from coming inside. Njokuani lands a jab. Njokuani with a leg kick then lands a body kick. Gooden clinches and pushes it against the fence. Njokuani reverses and lands an elbow. Njokuani back to landing lots and lots of knees against the fence. They trade punches before Njokuani lands more knees. Njokuani lands a couple of elbows. Njokuani lands more before they separate. Gooden lands a right hand and Njokuani lands a body kick. 10-9 Njokuani, 20-18 Njokuani.

Njokuani lands a knee as they tie up and Gooden is able to score a takedown. Njokuani kicks him off and Gooden looks for a takedown against the fence. They separate. Gooden with a jab as Njokuani lands a body kick. Njokuani stuns Gooden with a knee right to the jaw. Njokuani lands a left hand then a head kick. They go to the mat and Njokuani is inside the guard of Gooden and landing. Njokuani with some punches and elbows from the top. 10-9 Njokuani, 30-27 Njokuani.

Official Result- Chidi Njokuani def. Jared Gooden by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

> Middleweights- Brad Tavares (20-9, 15-9 UFC) vs. Jun Yong Park (17-6, 7-3 UFC)

Tavares drops Park with a right hand and quickly gets on the back to work for a choke. They get to their feet and separate. They’re trading in close range as Tavares is landing solid right hands. Park lands an uppercut and Tavares lands a right hand. They clinch against the fence. Park gets Tavares’ back against the fence. Tavares turns but Park still has position. They separate. Tavares lands a leg kick. Park lands a jab and a leg kick. Tavares with a right hand. Park lands a leg kick. We have a timeout for an eye poke. They get back to action and each land. 10-9 Tavares.

Park lands a jab and Tavares counters with a combination. Tavares lands a body kick and Park gets him down for a second. They stand and have a frantic exchange against the fence. Tavares with a pair of right hands as Park is pressuring. They trade jabs. Park lands a combination. They break away and Park lands a pair of leg kicks. Park lands some solid punches. Tavares with an overhand right. Park with a leg kick and Tavares lands a combo. Park lands a jab and Tavares with a combo. Park works the jab and lands a right hand and a leg kick. Both are landing but Park is way ahead on volume. They trade late. 10-9 Park, 19-19.

They trade inside the pocket and Tavares lands a right hand. Park lands a right hand and they clinch against the fence. Park has the body lock against the fence but nothing is happening. Park has back control. Park scores a takedown and has the back of Tavares. Park looking for a choke. Park with some punches as they are being told to work by Herb Dean. Park still controlling from the top. He ends it landing from the top. 10-9 Park, 29-28 Park.

Official Result- Jun Yong Park def. Brad Tavares by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

> Flyweights- #1 Brandon Royval (16-7, 6-3 UFC) vs. #5 Tatsuro Taira (16-0, 6-0 UFC)

Taira lands a leg kick. Royval lands a body kick and Taira grabs the leg and pushes it to the fence. They separate quickly. Taira lands a right hand. Royval with a jab. Royval lands a body kick and Taira lands a leg kick. Royval lands a jab and a body kick. Royval lands a counter elbow. Taira with a right hand as Royval lands a combination. Royval with a straight left hand. Royval with a body kick and a spinning back fist. They trade and Taira lands some solid punches. Taira grabs the back and drags it to the mat. They scramble up. 10-9 Royval.

Taira lands a right hand. He lands a solid right hand. Taira gets a takedown and has the body triangle from the back. Taira looking for a choke but landing as well. Taira keeping back control as there is a lot of hand fighting going on. Taira looks to roll but doesn’t give up the back. Taira with some right hands from the back. Taira looking to force Royval into making a mistake. Taira scrambles as Royval escapes but Taira transitions to the back and is now in the half-guard and lands. Taira stands and they separate. 10-9 Taira, 19-19.

Taira lands. They trade in close range. Taira shoots in for a takedown but eats a knee from Royval. Royval landing to defend the takedown and they separate. Royval lands a combination. He lands another solid combo. Royval with an uppercut. Royval with a pair of left hands and Taira is retreating. Taira tries a takedown but Royval lands to defend. Royval gets a takedown. They scramble up. Royval with a flurry and Taira is covering up. Taira tries a takedown but eats a knee and Royval lands. They’re on the mat and Royval is landing from the back. Royval looking for an armbar but it allows Taira to roll to the top and Taira takes the back of Royval. He has the body triangle locked in. Taira looks for a rear-naked choke and is squeezing around the chin. Royval survives. What a crazy round! 10-9 Royval, 29-28 Royval.

They trade jabs. Taira lands a right hand. Royval lands a combination. Taira shoots for a takedown and pushes it to the fence. Taira gets it down and has the back with the body triangle locked on. Taira landing some punches. Taira puts an arm around the chin of Royval but lets go. Taira with some elbows. Taira still controlling from the back as Royval is showing good defense. 10-9 Taira, 38-38.

Both are looking for openings. Taira just misses a right hand but is then able to connect. Royval lands and circles away. Taira with a right hand and scores a takedown. Royval reverses and scrambles to the top. They stand and Royval has the back and gets a brief takedown. They stand with Royval on the back before they break apart. Royval with a combination. Royval lands another solid combination. Taira shoots for a takedown but Royval defends against the fence. They separate. Taira with a big right hand. Taira with a leg kick and Royval trips up. Taira shoots for a takedown and Royval goes for a guillotine choke and rolls to the mount then takes the back and looks for a choke. Royval with some punches from the back. Incredible fight. 10-9 Royval, 48-47 Royval.

Official Result- Brandon Royval def. Tatsuro Taira by split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47)