HOT DAWG

Brandon is still flying high

- GARY HITCHCOCK

BRANDON ROYVAL, fittingly, proved the fly in the ointment to UFC's plans for the grand 125lb division.

Just hours before his clash with Tatsuro Taira at the Apex in Las Vegas, president Dana White announced former RIZIN champion Kai Asakura would walk straight into a flyweight title fight on debut against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 310 on December 7.

It has been seven years since the company last staged a show in Japan, the birthplace of MMA, and in an ideal scenario, businesswise, Land of the Rising Sun stars Taira and Asakura would headline there for the flyweight crown.