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Tatsuro Taira is the most exciting Flyweight prospect in quite some time.
It took UFC six fights to realize the Japanese athlete was something special. He was routinely dominating fights and scoring finishes on the undercard until he was suddenly pulled up for a main event slot against Alex Perez. A clear-cut but strange finish later, and Taira was suddenly lined up against former title contender Brandon Royval, looking to earn his first UFC title shot at 24 years of age.
Those opportunities don’t come by accident, even if Royval proved a notch too experienced for Taira last night. He’s still a remarkably talented up-and-comer, and if you care about his longterm career, it’s hard to be upset about his performance or too negative about the consequences.
In all likelihood, Taira’s defeat last night will make him a better fighter. When winning quickly and dispatching ranked fighters without getting hit, it’s difficult to know how to improve. Taira pretty much ran through Perez — another former title challenger — without learning much in the process. His default game plan worked. Had the cookie crumbled just a bit differently last night, perhaps he chokes out Royval too and ends up in a title fight unaware of his own limitations.
Locked in the cage with Alexandre Pantoja would be a bad time to learn.
The most notable technical hole in Taira’s game is head movement. Generally, he uses range control and footwork to keep himself safe from shots. Against a fighter with a range advantage in Royval, that was a much more difficult option. Suddenly, every shot Royval flicked forward was landing, and Taira didn’t know how to adjust. Because of this loss, that’s a very clear area that Taira and his team now know must be addressed.
Conditioning was also a factor here. If Taira wins the fifth round, he wins the fight. He had opportunity to do so but couldn’t push hard enough to capitalize. It wasn’t a bad gas tank demonstration for his first 25-minute fight, but it’s another relatively easy fix that greatly increases his odds of being champion if addressed sooner than later.
For the record, Taira showed a lot of good stuff in his first five-round fight too. The Japanese fighter has grit, the ability to keep moving when the going get tough. That’s an essential skill for any would-be champion and one Taira’s never been forced to demonstrate. On the technical side of things, his mat skills are otherworldly. All hope isn’t lost on the feet either, as even a gassed Taira was snapping Royval’s chin back with powerful straight punches.
Back in 2015, the most talented Japanese fighter of the last decade, Kyoji Horiguchi, was rushed off the undercard at 25 years old to face Demetrious Johnson. He had never been scheduled for five rounds in the UFC or even fought a former title challenger. Predictably, the seriously gifted striker struggled in the face of an all-time great, and his lack of experience was obvious.
Horiguchi still went on to do great things, but being rushed into a title fight didn’t help his chances at UFC gold. Taira, at least, is learning these lessons on a better timeline, and he’ll still have plenty of time to earn that first title shot.
When it materializes, he’ll be ready.
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