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 on Perez in space. Perez got a takedown late in the round, scooping up the Okinawa native and putting him on his back in the center of the cage, but Taira quickly got back to his feet. Taira was warned for being poked twice in the first 1/2 rounds of the bout, but otherwise his composure was exemplary for a 24-year-old making his UFC main event debut. Still, Perez seemed to rise above the chaos that had been his biggest success to date, as he managed to throw the bout into chaos, when Taira flipped a failed takedown into a beautiful standing back take. After a lengthy stand-up sequence, Taira dragged the veteran to the floor, but Perez cried out in pain after apparently injuring his knee during the takedown. Referee Herb Dean immediately stopped the bout, resulting in a disappointing end to a promising bout. The result was a TKO at 2 minutes, 59 seconds into the second round due to a leg injury, dropping Taira to 16-0 overall and 6-0 with the UFC. Perez, who was coming off a knockout of Matheus Nicolau in April, fell to 25-9 overall and 7-5 with the UFC.
Miles Johns (15-2, 1 no kicks) picked up an important points win over Douglas Silva de Andrade (29-6, 1 no kicks) in a tense and at times frustrating bantamweight co-main event that smoked and smoldered but never quite turned into a full-blown fire. A hesitant first round saw few decisive moments, but Johns’ punching advantage was clear, suggesting he could take control or even end the bout if he could land more than a graze. In the second round, both bantamweights were content to trade single punches and kicks with lethal intent, but Johns seemed to land more and more powerful strikes, including a left punch late in the round that badly staggered the Brazilian. Johns continued to gradually take control of the bout in the final round, hurting Silva de Andrade again early on. “DeSilva” quickly recovered and went on the offensive himself, landing some hard punches on Johns as the tension between the two increased. In the final minutes of the bout, Silva de Andrade made things interesting, landing a beautiful spin kick and knocking out Johns’ mouthpiece with two hard punches. However, the American recovered and closed the bout with a flurry of punches in the center of the cage, thanks to referee Mark Smith’s intervention and replacing the mouthpiece. The judges scored the win 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 for Johns, improving his record to 6-2 with 1 no-contest at UFC since graduating from Dana White’s Contender Series Season 3. Silva de Andrade is now 7-6 inside the Octagon.
Lucas Almeida (15-3) bounced back from a two-fight losing streak with a strong performance against Timothy Quiamba (8-3) in a featherweight bout. Quiamba quickly established a speed advantage in the stand-up, evading the reach of the taller and heavier Brazilian with blisteringly quick one-twos and low kicks. But Almeida was unfazed, and just over halfway through the round he unleashed a powerful left-right combo on the Hawaiian, including a right hand that went through unblocked and sent Quiamba to the ground. Quiamba got to his feet and appeared to recover, but Almeida took him down again with another clean right hand a minute later. Quiamba once again survived, and after a brief recovery he got in range and landed a solid combination of his own, loosening Almeida’s mouthguard and landing a hard left to the body in the closing seconds.Cuamba quickly resumed his offensive in the second round, sprinting to close range and launching punches, attacking Almeida’s body. Cuamba appeared to gain momentum when Almeida again rocked him with a short right punch. Cuamba stumbled and dove for a single-leg takedown, buying him time to recover, but when the striking match resumed, Cuamba still could not answer the Brazilian’s heavy, accurate right. The round ended with Almeida standing firm against Cuamba, forcing him back against the fence and clearly in control of the bout. Cuamba again came out in high spirits in the final frame, landing some sharp body kicks and going for a takedown in the first minute. Almeida fended off the takedown and went on the offensive, supporting the smaller Cuamba with feints and hard straight punches. Almeida dominated the stand-up action while Cuamba scored a clean takedown with a minute left and landed a flurry of strikes from top position, but couldn’t finish him or land enough damage to decide the outcome. The cageside judges unanimously scored the fight 29-28 in Almeida’s favor, bringing Almeida to 2-2 at UFC. Cuamba, who lost a split decision to Bolaji Oki in his surprise debut in February, falls to 0-2.
Returning to the Octagon for the first time in over a year, Brady Hiestand made up for lost time, dominating Garrett Armfield in a hard-fought bantamweight bout that lasted over two rounds. Armfield struck first, capturing Hiestand with a tight armbar in the opening seconds of the first round. The bout looked to be over in under a minute as Armfield went prone and Hiestand’s limbs were bent at an alarming angle, but Hiestand kept his cool, wriggling out of the hold and quickly transitioning into a guillotine choke. This time, Armfield showed his cool and survived to escape, but the show of intense grappling was far from over. Hiestand secured another takedown later in the round, scoring a rear-naked choke. With his forearm perfectly under Armfield’s chin, the bout appeared to be over, but Armfield managed to evade the choke and take it to the horn. Instead of trying his luck on the floor again in the second round, Armfield showed his striking, severely rocking Hiestand with two punches in the opening seconds. Armfield rushed his dazed opponent to the ground, evading a loose triangle choke and passing the guard while landing punches from top position. Hiestand recovered and exploded to his feet, again dragging Armfield to the canvas and applying a body triangle for a rear-naked choke. Armfield again defended well and got to his feet, fighting hard for the final minute. The third round started similarly, with Armfield’s sharper and heavier punches dominating, but Hiestand again showed his ability to get on his opponent’s back in an instant, wrapping up Armfield and dragging him to the floor. A rear-naked choke attempt came quickly, this time forcing Armfield to forfeit the bout at 1 minute, 28 seconds into the final round. The finish improved Hiestand’s record to 8-2 overall and 3-1 at UFC, marking his third straight win since a close loss to Ricky Tarsios in the final bout of season 29 of The Ultimate Fighter. Armfield fell to 10-4 overall and 2-2 in the UFC.
As Almabaev has steadily climbed the 125-round rankings, thoroughly out-maneuvering Jose Johnson in the third round of the main card. Almabaev (20-2) spent the first few minutes of the bout adjusting to the unique match-up problems presented by the 6-foot-tall Johnson, who had dropped down from 135 pounds for the bout and quickly became the tallest flyweight in UFC history. But as Almabaev evaded “No Way’s” jabs and front kicks, his superior wrestling and grappling prowess became apparent. Almabaev handily took Johnson down in all three rounds, delivering sporadic but effective ground-and-pound, taking him from behind and threatening him with a variety of chokes and cranks, leaving no doubt as to who was the better fighter. Johnson avoided a complete defeat with effective grappling attacks, getting the Kazakh’s back in the second round and briefly securing full mount in the third. But each time Almabaev escaped without damage or serious danger, making the unanimous decision (30-27 across all cards) a mere formality. With the win, the 30-year-old Johnson improves to 3-0 at UFC and his 16th consecutive win, dating back to a two-loss defeat to fellow Octagon fighter Tagir Uranbekov more than seven years ago. Johnson is 1-2 in the promotion after a failed flyweight debut.
The welterweight main card opened with three close rounds between Adam Fugitt (10-4) and Josh Quinlan (6-3, 1 no kick). Both fighters tested their opponents’ defenses and resolve in similar ways, using a lot of low kicks and then head kicks, feinting to get distance before diving into the pocket with punching combinations. Fugitt often strategically changed stances, including a spinning back elbow late in the rounds, while Quinlan landed a few superman punches. While both fighters had some success with their attacks, neither one seriously hurt the other, resulting in an entertaining but difficult to score third round. The judges agreed, predictably scoring a split decision in Fugitt’s favor (29-28, 29-28, 28-29). The win improves Fugit to 2-2 in the UFC record, while Quinlan is now 1-3 since joining the UFC shortly after his Contender Series win was overturned.
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