Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira in the works for UFC Vegas 98 main event

Brandon Royval is back in action.

Royval is expected to face riding contender Tatsuro Taira in the main event of the upcoming UFC Vegas 98 card, which takes place at UFC Apex on Oct. 12. The matchup was first announced by UFC commentator John Gooden during the UFC 304 weigh-in show and later confirmed to MMA Fighting by sources close to the situation.

Currently the No. 4 flyweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, Royval (16-7) challenged Alexandre Pantoja for the title this past December, losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a split decision win over two-time champion Brandon Moreno in their UFC Mexico City main event clash.

The No. 9-ranked Taira is widely viewed as one of the best prospects in all of MMA. The 24-year-old Japanese fighter has a perfect 16-0 resume, with six wins in the UFC, including four finishes. Most recently Taira defeated one-time title challenger Alex Perez in their main event matchup in June when Perez suffered a knee injury during a takedown from Taira.

A number of other matchup for the card have already been announced including a bantamweight fight between former champion Cody Garbrandt and Miles Johns and a lightweight tilt between Grant Dawson and Rafa Garcia.

Damon Martin contributed to this report.