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Heading into the main event of UFC on ESPN 58, Tatsuro Taira was looking to test himself in the championship rounds. That goal ultimately didn’t come to fruition as his opponent, Alex Perez, suffered a knee injury that earned the Japanese prospect a technical knockout victory at 2 minutes, 59 seconds into the second round. The finishing sequence came after Taira performed a standing back take before dragging Perez to the canvas, a move that caused his opponent to sprain his knee on the way to the floor.”I came here to fight all five rounds and I haven’t been able…

Robert Whittaker is just happy to be fighting Ikram Aliskerov, despite having never heard of him before his opponent’s booking was announced.Whittaker was originally scheduled to face Khamzat Chimaev at UFC on ABC 6 in Saudi Arabia on June 22, but the Chechen-born Swede fell “gravely ill,” and newcomer Ikram Aliskerov was handed the fight in Chimaev’s place on nine days’ notice.Whittaker claims he found out about Chimaev’s withdrawal at the same time as the rest of the MMA community, and while “Bobby Knuckles” had spent months preparing for Chimaev’s unique style, the former champion didn’t hesitate to accept the…

If Shalabdin Magomedov wants to become the new face of Dagestan’s striking world, he’ll need to step up in a big way.Magomedov is an elite striker from Dagestan, a region renowned for producing some of the best grapplers in MMA history. Commonly known as “Shala Bullet,” Magomedov made his UFC debut in October 2023 at UFC 294, where he showed off his striking prowess against Bruno Silva in a unanimous decision victory. After the bout, UFC CEO Dana White expressed surprise at the unbeaten Dagestan’s reluctance to wrestle. Far from being deterred, Magomedov was inspired by White’s comments.”It’s a kind…

Tatsuro Taira stepped into the cage on Saturday looking to complete his transition from prospect to challenger, and it worked out just fine, albeit not in the way anyone had hoped.In the flyweight main event of UFC on ESPN 58 at the UFC Apex, Taira faced off against a returning former title challenger, Alex Perez. Perez immediately took the fight to the young phenom, attacking with big punches and hard low kicks, underhooking Perez against the fence, and generally attacking at a ferocious pace. Taira was up to the challenge, holding on in the clinch and landing long straight punches…

Getty Images/UFC Nathan Manes appears to be a growing problem for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight division. In Saturday’s top prelims at UFC on ESPN 58, Maness (16-3) dominated Jimmy Flick (17-8) in a flyweight bout that was much closer than the final score would suggest, or than the nearly 5-to-1 odds in favor of Maness would suggest. Maness used his jab to his advantage from the start, taking advantage of his large size for the weight class and forcing Flick, a dangerous submission artist, to the outside. Flick was more than ready to join the striking battle, trying to…

Tatsuro Taira has taken another big step towards competing for the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight title.The Japanese prospect maintained his unbeaten record in the main event of UFC on ESPN 58 on Saturday night with a second-round stoppage victory over former title challenger Alex Perez at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Though the bout ended in disappointing fashion due to a knee injury, Taira no doubt helped make it happen by pinning his opponent to the canvas while having Perez carry him like a backpack. After rattling off 16 straight wins to start his pro career, Taira has emerged…

Alex Perez and Tatsuro Taira at the UFC Las Vegas 93 weigh-in. Credit: Youtube/UFCAlex Perez and Tatsuro Taira closed out UFC Las Vegas 93, but the fight night card felt overshadowed by an eventful week for the promotion, with both Conor McGregor and Khamzat Chimaev withdrawing from key upcoming bouts. But Taira was undefeated with 15 wins and could be considered the first Japanese title contender since Kyoji Horiguchi, and he was looking to step up his game against Perez, who fought in 2020 in a bout that ended with him missing out on a title shot against Devathon Figueiredo.…

Douglas Silva de Andrade at the UFC Las Vegas 93 weigh-in. Credit: Youtube/UFCBrazilian UFC veteran Douglas Silva de Andrade faced off against Miles Johns in the co-main event of UFC Las Vegas 93. At 38 years old, “DSDA” is the oldest fighter on the card, but he comes into this bout having won three of his last four fights in 12 UFC appearances, while Myles Johns is coming off a 5-2 (1 NC) start to his UFC career. In a talented bantamweight division, matchups between above-average unranked fighters can be great. This bout was certainly entertaining, as Myles Johns beat…

Timothy Quiamba and Lucas Almeida at the weigh-in for UFC Las Vegas 93. Credit: Youtube/UFCOn Saturday at UFC Vegas 93, up-and-coming Timothy Quiamba faced off against veteran Brazilian fighter Lucas Almeida in the UFC featherweight division. Cuamba lost his UFC debut to fellow prospect Bokaji Oki, but at 25 years old, he still has room to grow. His opponent, Lucas Almeida, came into the bout coming off a pair of straight losses to Andre Fili and Pat Sabatini, but remains a dangerous threat, having won all but one of his career bouts by finish. This was Almeida’s first career decision…

Brady Hiestand and Garrett Armfield at the weigh-in for UFC Las Vegas 93. Credit: Youtube/UFCTUF 29 finalist Brady Hiestand faced Garrett Armfield in a bantamweight bout at UFC Las Vegas 93 on Saturday. Both men came into the bout on two straight win streaks, but Hiestand hadn’t fought in nearly a year. Perhaps looking to make up for lost time, he started strong. Armfield did the same, and within a minute Hiestand attempted a single-leg attack. But Armfield grabbed one of his arms and performed an unsightly armbar attempt, forcing Hiestand to straddle his opponent to defend. He did so,…