Joshua Van cemented himself as flyweight champion after a stunning performance to beat Tatsuro Taira in a potential Fight of the Year at UFC 328.
Again and again, Van had to deal with Taira’s dominant ground game after the Japanese flyweight connected with multiple takedowns. But Van was relentless with his ability to get up again and then he absolutely punished Taira on the feet with fast, powerful hands.
The end came in the final round when Van unleashed another blinding combination that hurt Taira to the body before going back up top to the head. When Taira dropped this time, referee Vitor Ribeiro saw enough and stopped the fight at 1:32 in the fifth round as Van successfully defended his title.
“It feels damn good to be the champion again,” Van said after the win. “I said I was going to finish him inside three rounds and I almost did but he’s a tough motherf*cker. As soon as I got to the body, it was over. Shout out to Tatsuro, the Japanese fans and we can’t forget the Burmese fans.”
It took less than a minute for Taira to explode forward and land a big slam to bring Van to the ground for the first time. Taira immediately moved into the mount before shifting into side control as he maintained top position on Van.
Van eventually scrambled out of the bad position before defending a potential guillotine choke before getting back to his feet again. A quick jab landed from Van but Taira countered quickly with another takedown against the cage.
Just before the round ended, Taira unloaded with some ground and pound before Van escaped as time ran out.
Taira looked for another takedown but he got shut down this time and Van made him pay for it. With room to work, Van started popping Taira with his lightning quick punches in succession.
Van cracked Taira several times and it appeared he was hurting the top ranked contender but then out of nowhere the Japanese flyweight exploded forward with another takedown. Taira could do much on the ground and when the fighters got up again, Van connected with a brutal right hand that immediately scored a knockdown.
It looked like Van might get the finish but Taira was able to grab onto the flyweight champion until time expired to allow him one-minute to recover.
On the restart, Van was just popping Taira with a lead jab and he blocked a takedown attempt with a huge knee up the middle that landed with thudding force. Van scored another takedown with a jab directly to the chin and it appeared Taira was all but finished.
Van nearly locked up a rear-naked choke but instead returned to the feet with Taira’s face covered in blood from the damage done. Somehow Taira survived and scored a late takedown as the fight moved into the championship rounds.
In round four, Taira opened with a nasty calf kick that immediately affected Van before landing yet another takedown. Taira got to mount again and he was maintaining control while also slamming the champion with some shoulder shrugs on the canvas.
Van finally exploded and nearly got caught in a triangle choke but he escaped and returned to the feet.
With five minutes remaining, Van opened with that same damaging jab that pieced up Taira all night long. Taira kept trying for takedowns but he wasn’t able to grab onto Van, who was firing back with a furious combination of strikes.
That’s when Van connected with another barrage of shots including several to the body and a brutal right hand that put Taira down on the canvas and the referee stepped in to stop it. Van showed resilience and a skill set that proved he deserves to sit atop the flyweight rankings but he also knows he has some unfinished business with Alexandre Pantoja after a freak injury ended their first fight this past December.
“Pantoja, you better get your shit right,” Van shouted after his win. “We can run it back if you want.”
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