Jun Yong Park is favored against Brad Tavares at UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira on Saturday, October 12 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event is one of 14 fights on ESPN+. Park is 17-6 in his career, including 7-3 in the UFC, while Tavares is 20-9 in his career, including 15-9 in the UFC. There are a total of 14 fights, all on ESPN+ at UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira. Let’s look at the bout between Park and Tavares and UFC predictions.
UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira takes place at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, October 12 with 14 fights, all on ESPN+.
UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira Betting
Jun Yong Park (17-6, 7-3 UFC)
Park came into the UFC with a record of 10-3 and he has seven wins and three losses in the UFC. He defeated Marc-André Barriault by unanimous decision, John Phillips by unanimous decision, Tafon Nchukwi by majority decision, Eryk Anders by split decision, Joseph Holmes by rear-naked choke submission, Denis Tiuliulin by technical submission, and Albert Duraev by rear-naked choke submission; while losing to Anthony Hernandez by anaconda choke submission, Gregory Rodrigues by KO, and André Muniz by split decision. Park has been a pro since 2013 and he has five wins by TKO/KO and six by submission. He has five first round finishes.
Park said this to ufc.com about his upcoming fight against Tavares, “Someone like Brad Tavares, he's a veteran. He's been in this game for such a long period of time. Well experienced, well rounded, and doesn’t get hurt as much. Maintains himself, (has) a great mindset. I respect him so much for that. I'll definitely take advantage and try to overcome my opponent's game plan and to use that as my advantage with the positioning and the timing to be able to put out what I have in store and throw out my game plan, as well.
Brad Tavares (20-9, 15-9 UFC)
Tavares came into the UFC with a record of 5-0 and he has 15 wins and nine losses in the UFC. In his last six fights, he has three wins and three losses. He defeated Antônio Carlos Júnior by unanimous decision, Omari Akhmedov by split decision, and Chris Weidman by unanimous decision; while losing to Dricus du Plessis by unanimous decision, Bruno Silva by TKO, and Gregory Rodrigues by TKO. Tavares has been a pro since 2007 and he has five wins by TKO/KO and two by submission. He has five first round finishes.
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Park 4.53 /Tavares 3.38
Striking Accuracy: Park 50% /Tavares 43%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Park 3.30/Tavares 3.15
Defense: Park 53% /Tavares 55%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Park 1.83/Tavares 0.78
Takedown Accuracy: Park 50%/Tavares 26%
Takedowns defended: Park 57%/Tavares 81%
Submission average: Park 1.1/Tavares 0.0
UFC Picks
If it seems like we have seen Tavares fighting for a long time, we have. He is only one win away from tying Michael Bisping for the most wins in UFC middleweight history. That being said, Tavares is 36 years old and doesn’t win very often anymore. He has lost three of his last four fights and five of his last eight. You could have made the case that Tavares only loses to the cream of the crop in the division, but that is not the case now. The loss to Gregory Rodrigues last time out could be the warning sign that Tavares is nearly done.
Park was rolling along winning four straight fights until a split decision loss to Andre Muniz last time out. Park has not really fought a ton of good opposition so it might be that Tavares is the best fighter he will have faced. Park would like to get this fight to the mat, but Tavares is hard to get to the mat and he has never been submitted in his career.
This fight seems likely to be a striking battle and I don’t see much of an edge either way. I think this will turn into a fight that goes back and forth and probably goes the distance. I will go over the rounds total for the best bet in this fight.
| DATE | FIGHTERS | MONEY LINE |
| 10/12 | Tatsuro Taira | -225 |
| Brandon Royval | +176 |
| 10/12 | Jun Yong Park | -180 |
| Brad Tavares | +143 |
| 10/12 | Rafa Garcia | +325 |
| Grant Dawson | -455 |
| 10/12 | Cory McKenna | +105 |
| Julia Polastri | -135 |
| 10/12 | Josh Fremd | +131 |
| Abdul Razak Alhassan | -165 |
| 10/12 | Alex Morono | +161 |
| Daniel Rodriguez | -205 |
| 10/12 | Jared Gooden | +150 |
| Chidi Njokuani | -190 |
| 10/12 | Ramazonbek Temirov | -285 |
| C.J. Vergara | +218 |
| 10/12 | Niko Price | +228 |
| Themba Gorimbo | -300 |
| 10/12 | Junior Tafa | -425 |
| Chris Barnett | +307 |
| 10/12 | Lucas Rocha | +168 |
| Clayton Carpenter | -215 |
| 10/12 | Pat Sabatini | +121 |
| Jonathan Pearce | -151 |
| 10/12 | Cody Haddon | -190 |
| Daniel Argueta | +150 |
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