Joshua Van drops Tatsuro Taira with devastating fifth-round KO at UFC 328

Tatsuro Taira opened the fight with four takedowns, setting the pace early in round one. Despite spending much of the opening round on his back, Van managed to get up a few times and landed some sharp punches that got him going.

The champion connected with even bigger shots in the second, but Taira responded by taking him down again. The crowd showed their frustration as Taira kept control without causing any real damage.

But that changed when Van returned to his feet and dropped Taira hard at the end of the round, earning a big reaction from fans. Taira looked slow out of the gate in round three, still feeling the effects from earlier. Van avoided every takedown and dominated most of the frame with clean striking.

Even so, despite being bloodied up, he managed to land another takedown late in the third to stay competitive. Taira leaned on his grappling again early in round four, keeping control for about three minutes before switching to a jab vs. calf kick exchange down the stretch.

Van turned up his pressure after brushing off more wrestling attempts early in round five before hurting Taira badly with a shot to the body – finishing it off with several follow-ups before referee Marc Goddard stopped it somewhat prematurely.

Tatsuro was furious about what had just happened but both Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier believed it was an okay call by Goddard.

Joshua Van sets sights on Pantoja rematch

Even after the most significant win of his career, questions lingered about the legitimacy of Joshua Van’s flyweight title reign.

His TKO victory over Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 323 last December officially lasted just 26 seconds, but the bout ended abruptly when Pantoja suffered a dislocated elbow.

The injury forced an immediate stoppage before either fighter had a chance to get going, leaving plenty of room for debate.

Van embraced that narrative in the lead-up to his first title defence against Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328. After successfully defending his belt, he addressed Pantoja directly during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan:

“Pantoja, you better get right. We can run it back if you want,” Van said while looking over at him cageside.

The stage now looks set for the pair to meet again later this year and give fans the closure they’ve been waiting for.