Tatsuro Taira earned a major TKO victory over Brandon Moreno tonight at UFC 323, though the stoppage was somewhat controversial.

Round One

Cautious start from both men in the opening minute. Taira eventually shoots in for a takedown, but botches it and Moreno is now able to put him firmly on the defensive thanks to a triangle choke attempt.

Moreno unable to fully lock in the submission though and so Taira patiently waits for his opportunity to break free. He tries to slam Moreno, but it doesn’t deter the former champ. Moreno looking to readjust now and gets the choke a bit tighter, but it doesn’t seem to be troubling Taira.

This attempt has taken up most of the round now. Moreno tries to disrupt Taira’s base, but is unable to, and then Taira scrambles back to his feet. Taira trying to pressure immediately with strikes, but there’s only a few seconds remaining.

Round Two

Inside leg kick from Taira. Fast hands from him, but not quite finding his range yet.

Low inside leg kick from Moreno. Another low kick from Taira. Taira shoots for a takedown, but fails and eats a counter-punch from Moreno. Nice right hand from Taira now though.

Taira in on another takedown and this time lands straight into mount. Taira takes the back and puts in the body triangle. Big punches from Taira. Taira able to really flatten Moreno out now and starts blasting him with ground-and-pound.

Moreno attempting to move to improve his position, which is easier said than done while punches, but nevertheless the ref decides he’s seen enough and steps in to end the fight, handing Taira the TKO victory at 2.24mins of the second round.

Moreno was in a bad spot there, but that really felt like a bit of a premature stoppage as the former champ wasn’t yet badly hurt or showing much visible damage and clearly wanted to fight on.