Tatsuro Taira erased the memory of his first career loss with a stellar bounce-back win over HyunSung Park.
Competing in his third straight main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Taira (17-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) wanted to make a statement to get back in flyweight title contention. Park (10-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) stepped up on just a few days’ notice after Taira’s original opponent, Amir Albazi, withdrew due to injury. The opponent switch was no problem, as Taira ended the fight 1:06 into Round 2 by submission.
The opening round started with a methodical pace, but as Taira settled in, he cracked Park with a pair of big right hands to send him to the canvas. Taira quickly followed him to the ground, but Park was able to stay defensively sound to make it to Round 2.
Early in the second round, Taira darted across the cage, lifted and dumped Park for a big early takedown. He quickly found the back and slapped on a rear-naked choke. It didn’t get fully under the neck, but the squeeze from the face crank was incredibly tight, forcing Park to tap to the hold.
During his post-fight interview, Taira called for the winner of the expected next title fight, Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van.
Taira’s first career loss was a split decision to former title challenger Brandon Royval in October. The Fight of the Night was a close one, but Taira was eager to get back into the win column with a statement win, and did exactly that by handing Park his first career loss.
Full UFC on ESPN 71 results
- Tatsuro Taira def. HyunSung Park via submission (face crank) – Round 2, 1:06
- Chris Duncan def. Mateusz Rebecki via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Esteban Ribovics def. Elves Brener via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Neil Magny def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:39
- Kevin Vallejos def. Danny Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Rinya Nakamura def. Nathan Fletcher via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:02
- Rodolfo Vieira def. Tresean Gore via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Andrey Pulyaev def. Nick Klein via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:31
- Austin Bashi def. John Yannis via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:39
- Rafael Estevam def. Felipe Bunes via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Piera Rodriguez def. Ketlen Souza via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
