UFC 328 full fight video: Tatsuro Taira runs through ex-champ Moreno
Watch the dominant win over an ex-champ that led to Tatsuro Taira's flyweight title shot.
His shot was delayed by a month, But Tatsuro Taira is a day away from potentially realizing his dream. It's not often that the challenger is the favorite in a UFC title fight, but it'll happen Saturday at UFC 328 (Paramount+). In the co-main event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.
J. , flyweight champion Joshua Van (16-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) will be a slight underdog against Taira (18-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC). Van is putting the belt on the line for the first time since he won it against Alexandre Pantoja in December at UFC 323.
Van took Pantoja down, and the champ suffered a fight-ending arm injury just 26 seconds in. And that may have oddsmakers and the betting public give pause to backing Van – particularly when Taira has been just as dominant in recent years. Taira has dropped just one fight in his career, and it was a split decision loss to Brandon Royval, who is no stranger to the flyweight title picture and title shots.
But since that loss, the 26-year-old trying to become the first Japanese fighter to win a UFC belt has shined with back-to-back finishes. At UFC 323, not long before Van beat Pantoja to win the belt, Taira needed just 1. 5 rounds to take out former champ Brandon Moreno with a crushing TKO.