Why Alan Jouban leans toward Tatsuro Taira over Joshua Van at UFC 327
Alan Jouban sees a clearer path to victory for Tatsuro Taira than Joshua Van at UFC 327. UFC flyweight champion Van (16-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) makes his first title defense against Taira (18-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in the April 11 co-main event from Kaseya Center in Miami ( Paramount+ ). With most of Taira's wins coming by submission, Jouban still thinks Van's ground game is a question mark.
Van dethroned Alexandre Pantoja by injury TKO to claim the flyweight title at UFC 323, but the fight only lasted 26 seconds. "Tatsuro Taira has got that, I call it the cheetah shot," Jouban told MMA Junkie. "He's so fast.
He scrambles. If he gets ahold of you, he finds the back. Joshua Van is just such a polished striker, but I haven't seen enough of him in these scramble positions to feel comfortable saying I think he's able to stuff these takedowns for 25 minutes and stay on the feet.
"So it's got me leaning toward Tatsuro Taira, but because I feel like over the course of 25 minutes, he might find something. Even if Joshua Van's piecing him up for three rounds, there's always that opportunity that he makes one mistake and Taira slaps on the choke. " Van enters as a betting underdog against Taira, who finished former champion Brandon Moreno by TKO in his most recent outing at UFC 323.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Alan Jouban points to one aspect of Van's game that has him skeptical