(Chris Unger via Getty Images)
Tatsuro Taira is back in the win column, and it could be a while before you see him leave it based on how he looked at UFC Vegas 108 on Saturday.
The Japanese rising star defeated short-notice opponent Hyun Sung Park with a second-round submission via face crank at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, bouncing back in dominant fashion after a split-decision loss against Brandon Royval this past December.
The Royval loss was the first of Taira’s career, and left him in need of a win entering Saturday lest the hype train come to a complete stop for the 25-year-old. He was supposed to fight Amir Albazi, who was facing similar circumstances via a loss to Brandon Moreno in November, but Albazi pulled out of the fight earlier this week, leaving Park (10-1) to step in on short notice.
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Both fighters began the bout looking tentative, right up until Taira (17-1) laid out Park with two hard right hands. Taira spent the final four minutes of the first round harassing Park on the ground, but never found the right position to end things.
Taira had Park back on the ground seconds into the second round, and Park didn’t last long from there.
In his post-fight interview, Taira, who is currently sixth in the UFC’s flyweight rankings, said he wanted the winner of the upcoming Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van UFC flyweight title fight and laughed off a suggestion from Michael Bisping that he might need one more win before he gets a title shot.
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In the night’s lightweight co-main event, Scotland’s Chris Duncan out-slugged Poland’s Mateusz Rebecki to capture a grueling unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) in a blood-drenched Fight of the Year contender.
Check out full UFC Vegas 108 results and highlights below.
Main Card
Flyweight: Tatsuro Taira def. Hyun Sung Park via submission (face crank) at 1:06 of R2 | Watch finish
Lightweight: Chris Duncan def. Mateusz Rebecki via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Lightweight: Esteban Ribovics def. Elves Brener via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Women’s bantamweight: Karol Rosa def. Nora Cornolle via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-27, 29-27)
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Welterweight: Neil Magny def. Elizeu Zaleski via TKO (strikes) at 4:39 of R2 | Watch finish
Featherweight: Kevin Vallejos def. Danny Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Bantamweight: Rinya Nakamura def. Nathan Fletcher via TKO (body kick and strikes) at 1:02 of R1 | Watch finish
189.5-pound catchweight: Rodolfo Vieira def. Tresean Gore via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Middleweight: Andrey Pulyaev def. Nick Klein via TKO (body kick and strikes) at 1:31 of R2 | Watch finish
Featherweight: Austin Bashi def. John Yannis via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:39 of R1 | Watch finish
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130-pound catchweight: Rafael Estevam def. Felipe Bunes via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Women’s strawweight: Piera Rodriguez def. Ketlen Souza via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
