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 as one of the most intriguing talents in the 125-pound sport.
Below is a rundown of UFC on ESPN 58 by the numbers, based on statistics from UFCStats.com.
5: Taira’s win streak at flyweight is the third-longest in the division behind current champions Alexandre Pantoja (6) and Mohamed Mokaev (6). Taira’s UFC win streak is six, including one victory at bantamweight.
41: The number of significant strikes Perez landed before he was injured and ended the fight. By comparison, Taira had 31. Perez outshot his opponent 23-17 in the first round and 18-14 in the second.
31: In a bantamweight bout, Brady Heistand was heavily outscored by Garrett Armfield in the second round, including one knockdown. Heistand bounced back with a rear-naked choke submission win at 1 minute, 52 seconds into the third round. Heistand completed six of 13 takedowns and three submission attempts, winning with five minutes, 36 seconds of control.
11:24: Ash Almabaev wins a unanimous decision over Jose Johnson in the flyweight bout, controlling total time. The Kazakhstan native attempted 11 takedowns, landed six, attempted four submissions and had a 77-58 advantage in total hits.
17: Almabaev has appeared in three UFC matches and has landed takedowns, winning his last 16 professional fights.
40: Adam Fugitt landed 40 effective strikes to the body out of 80 total shots in his weltweight win over Josh Quinlan by split decision. Quinlan landed 53 effective strikes, 11 of which were to the body.
63: Number of significant head shots landed by Nathan Maness in his three-round decision win over Jimmy Flick in the flyweight division, while Flick landed just eight significant head shots in the loss. Manes had an 89-37 advantage overall in significant head shots landed.
288: Total effective strikes landed by Gabriela Fernandez (119) and Carly Giudice (169). This is the fifth-highest total in UFC women’s flyweight history. Fernandez defeated Giudice by split decision in the prelims.
79: Giudice’s number of significant strikes landed in the third round is the fourth-most in UFC women’s flyweight history. By comparison, Fernandez landed 35 significant strikes in the same round.
12: The most triangle armbar submission in UFC history. Westin Wilson used it to finish Jeka Saragi 1 minute, 49 seconds into their featherweight bout. Wilson boasts 12 of his 17 career wins by submission.
1,856: The number of days since Noydanbieke Chailan lost by triangle choke to Allison Barbosa at WARS 33 on May 17, 2019. Melquizael Costa drew the tap with a face crank at 1 minute 50 seconds into round three, becoming the first fighter to submit the Chinese featherweight since then.
124: Josephine Lindgren Knutsson landed some big shots in her unanimous decision win over fellow Dana White Contender Series alum Giulia Polastri, landing 64 punches by comparison. The multiple-time Swedish Muay Thai champion outshot her opponent 61-34 in the first round, 24-5 in the second and 39-25 in the third.
