A flyweight fight between Alex Perez and Tatsuro Taira has been announced as the headlining fight for UFC Fight Night 242 in Las Vegas on June 15th.
This wasn’t the original plan for either fighter as Perez had been drawn up against Tagir Ulanbekov in a less prominent spot on the card, while Taira had been earmarked to face Joshua Van at UFC 302 on June 1st.
However, the UFC has now opted to switch things around and have Perez go up against Taira in the main event instead.
It’s been a whirlwind start to the year for the 32-year-old Perez, who came into 2024 having lost his last two fights against top-flight talents in Deiveson Figueiredo and Alexandre Pantoja, and then suffered another defeat against Muhammad Mokaev on March 2nd.
However, last month Perez rebounded in style by KO’ing Matheus Nicolau in the main event of UFC On ESPN 55, and it seems like he’s now eager to keep that momentum going as he accepts another fight only a couple of weeks later.
The 5th ranked Perez will be going up against the No.13 placed Taira, who is undefeated in his 15 fight career so far, including five wins in the Octagon so far.
A former Shooto champion, this is a big step up in UFC competition for the 24-year-old Taira, whose previous wins in the promotion have comes against the likes of CJ Vergara, Edgar Chairez and most recently Carlos Hernandez, who he TKO’d in December.
Perez vs. Taira front a UFC Fight Night 242 show that will also see the two fighters they were originally scheduled against facing each other instead as Tagir Ulanbekov will now fight Joshua Van.
