UFC Fight Night 244 was set for Saturday night inside the Apex in Las Vegas, and while it's a little short on big names, it looked like an excellent night of MMA on paper.

The top spot went to flyweight contenders Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira. Royval is the division's No. 1 contender, but was passed up for a shot at champ Alexandre Pantoja in favor of former Rizin bantamweight champ Kai Asakura, who recently signed with the UFC. Royval will look to keep his No. 1 ranking against another Japanese star in Tatsuro Taira, who is unbeaten in 16 pro fights.

The co-main event was contested at middleweight, with South Korea's Park Jun-yong taking on experienced veteran Brad Tavares. The card also featured the latest appearance from promising lightweight contender Grant Dawson, who will look to further distance himself from a knockout loss to Bobby Green against Rafa Garcia; as well as a fun welterweight matchup between Alex Morono and Daniel Rodriguez. And of course, there was lots more on offer than just that.

Keep scrolling for the full results of the card, and a rundown of the biggest winners and loser of the night.

Loser: Flyweight Doubters

Saturday's main event was objectively incredible. In one corner we had the the flyweight division's No. 1 contender in Brandon Royval. In the other, we had Tatsuro Taira, an undefeated contender from Japan. The stakes couldn't have been clearer: The winner deserved the next crack at the belt, which will next be up for grabs when Alexandre Pantoja takes on Kai Asakura at UFC 310.

In the end, it was a wickedly close fight.

Even in defeat, Taira proved that he is one of the best flyweights on earth, Meanwhile, Royval proved he deserves his No.1 ranking, and the next crack at the belt — whether it's against Pantoja or Asakura.

But here's what we're all thinking: It wasn't that long ago that the UFC had Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson under their exclusive, contractual control. This guy was and is one of the single greatest fighters in MMA history, and contrary to all of Dana White's whining, they did not know how to promote him. They also didn't know how to promote the division he ruled over — the talent-packed flyweight division — to the point that they considered abandoning it altogether.

Thank God they didn't. Today, the division is home to the likes of Royval, Taira, Asakura and Pantoja. If we're talking pure talent — with respect to the great Cain Velasquez — the flyweight division makes the heavyweight division look like a bunch of drunk dads playing touch football.

Thank God, again, they kept it.

Winner: The Iron Turtle

South Korea has contributed a ton to the modern MMA mythology. The "Korean Zombie" Jung Chan-sung is one of the most entertaining fighters in the history of this horribly brutal sport, and he's been followed by the likes of "The Korean Superboy" Choi Doo-ho, who has been involved in some memorable fights himself.

These days, however, South Korea has been largely represented in the UFC by the "Iron Turtle" Park Jung-yong.

Park is not on a championship trajectory. He looked like he was for a moment, with four-straight wins over the likes of Eryk Anders, Joseph Holmes, Denis Tiuliulin, and Albert Duraev, but then he ran into Andre Muniz, who has made a habit of ruining a lot of fighters' title dreams with his brutal jiu-jitsu.

Muniz has broken a lot of poor fools' arms, but Park survived their three-round fight, and lost a narrow split decision. At Saturday's card in Las Vegas, he defeated Hawaiian veteran Brad Tavares by split decision to prove that South Korea has a legit middleweight contender on their hands.

Loser: Heavyweight Cardio

Junior Tafa — the younger brother of fellow UFC heavyweight Justin Tafa — was originally supposed to fight fan favorite Chris Barnett on Saturday's card. Regrettably, Barnett could not make it to Vegas due to Hurricane Milton and was replaced at the last moment by UFC newcomer Sean Sharaf.

Tafa and Sharaf both deserve props for agreeing to fight on short notice, but this fight turned out to be a classic example of how weak some heavyweights are in the cardio department.

It certainly wasn't a bad fight, but by the time round one was over, the dwindling gas tanks of both men were all the commentators could talk about. That discourse continued into round two, by which point it was clear both men were running on fumes.

Thankfully, what could have devolved into a terrible, three-round slug-fest ended in the waning moments of the second, when Tafa summoned some kind of inner strength and finished things with a volley of punches.

There's no question that the heavyweight division has delivered some of the best knockouts in MMA history — with the likes of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic and Francis Ngannou deserving extra credit — but the division has also produced some absolute stinkers, and it's usually because the big boys don't have the gas to push past the 10-minute mark.

Thankfully, Tafa put an end to things before we got that far.

Winner: RIZIN Talent

From the earliest moments of Saturday's final prelim, which pitted CJ Vergara against former Rizin star Ramazan Temirov, you could tell the cage-side commentators were quite high on the former. They knew how good this guy was.

They had done their research. The Uzbek flyweight was making his UFC debut, but entered the Octagon with a 17-2 record, and had some very solid experience behind him, most notably two fights in the RIZIN Fighting Federation ring, both of which he won by first-round KO.

Casual fans may not realize it, but Japan's RIZIN is one of the best MMA promotions in the world, and it's produced some of the most exciting UFC talent we've seen in years, the most recent examples being Jiri Prochazka and Manel Kape.

Temirov could be the next RIZIN fighter to make waves in the UFC.

Vergara had six fights in the UFC already, but couldn't survive two rounds with the Uzbek knockout artist.

Time will tell if Temirov can become a serious contender, but there's no question the UFC is paying close attention to the incredible talent that exists in the RIZIN ring. After all, the next crack at flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja will go to one Kai Asakura — a former RIZIN bantamweight champ and one of the biggest stars in the Japanese promotion's history.

Loser: Slowing Down the Dawson Train

By the end of the summer of 2023, Grant Dawson was one of the hottest contenders in the jam-packed UFC lightweight division. Many fans saw him as a future champion. Then he was matched up with King Green and got melted inside a minute.

It was a debilitating loss for Dawson — one that stopped him right on the cusp of title contention. However, it doesn't seem like it will slow him down all that much. After losing to Green, Dawson rebounded with a decision win over the always-game Joe Solecki. Then, at Saturday's card in Vegas, Dawson picked up a second straight win against Rafa Garcia, who was fresh off a win over lightweight legend Clay Guida.

Dawson may yet turn into a flash in the pan. That being said, the Nebraskan is now sporting a 22-2-1 record over solid competition, and after two wins, he deserves another crack against a Top-15 foe. At the very least, he deserves a rematch with Green — and let's be honest, he'd win.

Winner: Welterweight Matchmaking

There are some UFC divisions that are so good that the matchmakers can really do no wrong. Welterweight is one of them.

Case in point: Saturday's main card scrap between former top-15 contenders Daniel Rodriguez and Alex Morono.

There aren't many secrets left about Rodriguez and Morono in 2024. While both are clearly outside the Top-15, both are very good boxers in a sport full of bad boxers, with iron chins and solid wrestling and jiu-jitsu to keep them out of trouble when punching doesn't work.

All of their skills were on display in their main card welterweight fight, and while Rodriguez ultimately won a split decision, both deserve credit for their ability and toughness. Nobody is expecting Rodriguez or Morono to contend for the title at this point, but both guys once again proved how good they are. It's safe to say that, if they represent the division's fringe contenders, welterweight might be the best division in the world right now.

Winner: Aussie MMA

At this point, Australia has asserted itself as a hotbed for MMA talent. Former UFC featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski is easily one of the top 15 or 20 best MMA fighters ever, and maybe the best featherweight of all time. Robert Whittaker is a legend at middleweight. Tai Tuivasa is always a must-watch TV at heavyweight, and Jack Della Maddalena might soon be a champ at welterweight. There's no questioning Australia's relevance in this sport.

From the looks of things, the country is not done churning out high-level MMA talent.

In the second bout of Saturday's card in Vegas, Former HEX Fight Series bantamweight champ and Dana White's Contender Series product Cody Haddon made his UFC debut against Dan Argueta.

Danial Williams — a ONE Championship fighter whose kindness, talent, and opinions I respect in equal measure — has been very high on this Haddon kid. After Saturday, I can see why.

Argueta was not only the amply more experienced fighter in the cage, with five UFC fights to his credit, but he also missed weight for the fight. Despite that, Haddon out-fought him over three rounds to a justified decision win.

Time will tell what the future holds for the 26-year-old Aussie, but his homeland will continue to be a power player in MMA for a long time to come.

UFC Fight Night 244 Results

Main Card | 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+

Brandon Royval def. Tatsuro Taira via split decision (47-48 x3)

Park Jung-yong def. Brad Tavares via split decision (28-29, 29-28 x2)

Chidi Njokuani def. Jared Gooden via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Grant Dawson def. Rafa Garcia via TKO (strikes) at 1:42 of round 2

Daniel Rodriguez def. Alex Morono via split decision (28-29, 29-28 x2)

Preliminary Card | 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+

Ramazan Temirov def. CJ Vergara via TKO at 2:50 of round 1

Pat Sabatini def. Jonathan Pearce via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:06 of round 1

Themba Gorimbo def. Niko Price via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Junior Tafa def. Sean Sharaf via TKO (strikes) at 2:15 of round 2

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

Cody Haddon def. Dan Argueta via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Clayton Carpenter def. Lucas Rocha by technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:12 of round 2