Tatsuro Taira looked good tonight in the main event of UFC On ESPN 58 on his way to a 2nd round TKO victory over Alex Perez, whose night came to an abrupt end due to a knee injury he suffered during a takedown.
Round One:
The flyweight main event is underway in Las Vegas.
Low kick for Taira. Now one from Perez. Knee to the body from Taira, but Perez then clinches up and goes over to the cage. Taira tries to move way, then is back to the cage and then back to striking range.
Perez able to clinch up again, but only momentarily. Low kick for Perez. Straight punches from Taira down the pipe.
Clipping right hand from Perez. Right hand for Taira and a high kick attempt. Short flurry from Perez and a single counter punch from Taira.
Left and right for Perez and then uppercuts as Taira counters with knees. Nice straight right from Taira. He lands a well timed uppercut.
Low kick for Taira. Perez presses forward to land a punch and solid low kick of his own. left hand gets through for Perez. He gets caught by an eyepoke which forces a brief stoppage.
They restart and Taira feels out with the jab. Now a jumping knee from him. Perez lands a takedown. Taira quickly works back to his feet though.
Both try to land a high kick in the final seconds of the round without finding the target.
Round Two:
Calf kick for Perez. Jab for Taira. Flurry of punches from Perez. Low kick for Taira. Nice counter right from Taira as Perez moved forward. There’s an eyepoke from Taira in that exchange though and that forces another stoppage and a final warning from the ref.
They get back to it. Nice right hand for Taira but then a flurry of punches from Perez. Lunging right hook for Perez.
Body punch from Taira, but Perez tags him with a couple of punches. Inside leg kick for Perez. Taira with a low kick too.
Perez gets in close and lands several short punches. Taira manages to work a takedown and then takes the back. Perez standing, but Taira is latched onto his back with the body triangle.
While still on his back Taira uses his leg behind Perez’s to disrupt his base and bring him down. Perez is in agony as they hit the mat though and there’s no way he’s going to be able to continue – it looks like he’s badly hurt his knee during that takedown and so Taira is the winner by TKO at 2.59mins of the 2nd round.
