Tatsuro Taira Maintains Perfect Record with Second-Round Win over Alex Perez

Tatsuro Taira wanted to show that he could box with former UFC flyweight title challenger Alex Perez. But Taira didn’t abandon his grappling entirely. The Japanese star utilized his technique to earn a unique win.

Taira wrapped up Perez’s leg and flung him backward midway through the second round. When Perez fell back to the canvas, he suffered a knee injury. When Taira ended up in the top position and was ready for ground and pound, Perez cried out in pain, and the fight was stopped.

Following the fight, MMAfighting latest news showed that Taira played coy on his strategy.

“It’s a special technique only I can do,” Taira said through an interpreter.

Whatever secrets Taira tries to keep under his hat won’t stay secret for long. Taira is now 16-0 and should see his ranking rise significantly from 13th. It was a crushing blow for Perez.

Perez had already missed significant time out of the octagon, being forced to sit out for more than two years. While the injury was tough enough to handle, all three judges scored the first round in Perez’s favor. While there was concern for Perez, there was a lot of excitement for Taira’s performance.

He was able to tell everyone what he wanted next in English. A title shot against Alexandre Pantoja.

“Pantoja,” Taira said. “Let’s go, title shot.”

Johns Wins Low Volume Slugfest

Miles Johns has a weird impact on his opponents at bantamweight. No matter what style they prefer to fight, Johns can set the pace. What Johns likes to do, according to the best MMA news sites, is throw a large amount of power shots.

Douglas Silva de Andrade was willing to try to match Johns’ power. While both men attempted to goad the other into exchanging in the pocket, neither succeeded in securing a knockout. Johns won a unanimous decision and is unbeaten in his last four fights.

Hiestand Steals the Show

Brady Hiestand was only a few seconds away from taking a soul-crushing loss. During the first round Saturday night against Garrett Armfield, Hiestand got on Armfield’s back and nearly submitted his opponent with a rear naked choke. However, Armfield survived.

Early in the second round, Hiestand was nearly knocked out. Armfield hit Hiestand with power shots that spent him sprawling down to the canvas. Armfield swarmed to try and finish the fight, but Hiestand survived by leaning on his grappling.

When the third round rolled around, Hiestand was able to again get on Armfield’s back. He was able to sink in another rear-naked choke, which forced Armfield to tap and gave Hiestand his third straight win.

Wilson Employs Perfect Gameplan

Westin Wilson needed some life breathed into his UFC career. Fighting against a dangerous striker in Jeka Saragih, Wilson had to be on his toes from the beginning of the fight. Saragih didn’t touch gloves and immediately attempted to knock out Wilson.

It was a difficult position for Wilson to be in. Wilson lost by first-round knockouts during his first two fights in the UFC. However, Wilson didn’t panic and turned Saragih’s aggression against him.

Wilson scored a takedown and then attempted a triangle. When Saragih picked up Wilson and attempted to slam him, Saragih accidentally submitted tighter. When Wilson added an armbar to the triangle, Saragih was forced to tap out. It was Wilson’s first victory in the promotion.

Power Over Pace

Carli Judice sprinted from the opening of her women’s flyweight fight with Gabriella Fernandes. Many MMA news sites noted that Fernandes was visibly tired during the third round of the fight. Judice set such an unbelievable pace it was hard for Fernandes to keep up.

However, Fernandes’s power ultimately won the fight. When Fernandes landed her punches, the impact seemed much heavier than when Judice landed. Judice finished with a 169-119 edge in strikes, but Fernandes’ power won her the split decision.

It was a disappointing result for Judice, who has three first-round finishes in her career. While Judice’s style of fighting, throwing out heavy volume, will earn her more opportunities, she would have liked to build some momentum for later fights.

Almeida picks up win

Lucas Almedia picked up an important win for his career when he outlasted Timothy Cuamba. It was nearly a much more impressive win for the Brazilian fighter. Almeida scored a knockdown in the first round and nearly picked up the knockout victory.

For the rest of the fight, both men had their moments, but no one was able to pull away in a major way. Cuamba has now lost consecutive fights since reaching the UFC. He will need to improve quickly if he wants to keep his roster spot.

Maness Employs Steady Approach to Beat Flick

Jimmy Flick is a fighter who prefers to get his work done on the canvas. Only four of his 25 career fights have gone the distance. But Nate Maness didn’t allow Flick to end the fight early.

While there was one moment where Flick came close to a submission at the end of the first round, much of the fight saw Maness lean on his boxing to pull ahead of Flick on points. But in a strategy typical of how this fight card went, Maness didn’t throw sustained combinations.

Instead, Maness decided to fire off power shots and wasn’t able to connect with one that troubled Flick. Flick wasn’t capable of hanging with Maness in the standup.

Here’s a look at the rest of the fights not mentioned above:

• Flyweight, Asu Almabayev win by decision over Jose Johnson, 30-27 (x3)
• Welterweight, Adam Fugitt win by split decision over Josh Quinlan, 29-28 (Fugitt x2), 29-28 (Quinlan)
• Featherweight, Melquizael Costa win by submission over Shayilan Nuerdanbieke, Round 3 1:50
• Women’s strawweight, Josefine Lindgren Knutsson win by decision over Julia Polastri, 29-28 (x3)

Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.

By Dean McHugh.