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Tatsuro Taira’s first UFC main event win ended up being more lucrative.

Taira, who improved to 16-0, cashed an extra $ 50,000 for his second-round injury TKO finish of Alex Perez in the headliner of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 93 event, claiming one of two Performance of the Night awards. Taira turned a standing body triangle into a nasty takedown attempt that injured the one-time title challenger.

The 24-year-old is now 6-0, with four finishes inside the octagon.

In addition to Taira, Brady Hiestand earned a $ 50,000 bonus for his third-round submission of Garrett Armfield in a back-and-forth bantamweight main card bout.

The women’s flyweight division delivered the card’s Fight of the Night, as Gabriella Fernandez and promotional newcomer Carli Judice earned an extra $ 50,000 each for their preliminary contest. Fernandes earned her first UFC victory via split decision, snapping a two-fight losing streak in the process. Judice competed for the first time since earning a contract on Contender Series with a split decision loss to Ernesta Kareckaite this past September.

UFC Vegas 93 took place June 15 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

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Last night (Sat., June 15, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned home to UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 93. Sadly, the card really fell apart in the final 36 hours. Two of the best fights on the whole card were cancelled, which left an already thin card looking downright anemic. Really, all eyes were on the Flyweight main event between Alex Perez and Tatsuro Taira, which was the only fight with an actual impact on its division.

All the same, let’s take a look back over at UFC Vegas 93’s best performances and techniques:

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Technical Savagery

Tatsuro Taira is very clearly the best hope for a Japanese UFC champion.

Opposite a game contender and former title challenger in Alex Perez, Taira showed off all the talent that makes him special. He’s not known as a kickboxer, but Taira looked plenty sharp on the feet. He did well to brush off Perez’s lands, and he quickly picked up the timing of Perez’s blitz. When Perez surged forward, Taira met his advance with hard right hand and right uppercut counters, as well double-collar tie knees. Between those exchanges, Taira managed distance well with the jab and calf kick.

It was competitive on the feet until Taira opted to wrestle. Almost immediately, he was on Perez’s back standing. Using the body triangle, Taira was able to trip up Perez’s leg. That’s a common enough strategy, but Taira expanded upon it by securing one wrist across the body and leaning backwards, intending to trip Perez to the floor. It worked, partially because Perez’s knee exploded in the process!

It was a nasty sequence, one clearly initiated by the Japanese talent. Nobody can paint this one as a freak injury — Perez should’ve just fallen over and accepted that the fight was going to the floor, but hindsight is of course 20/20. Either way, Taira will be ranked inside the Top 10 in just a couple days, and at 24 years of age, he looks ready for the division’s best.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Bantamweight Brings The Card Back To Life

Brady Hiestand vs. Garrett Armfield was so much better than any fight that came before it. Even on the worst nights, the Bantamweight division delivers the good.

Hiestand really impressed from the first bell. Right away, he was mixing all his offense together. Routinely, he would show the level change, fire a punch, and follow up with clinch offense. He showed several interesting setups off the left hook, following the punch with a left kick or left knee thrown almost as the same time. That trickery allowed him to get his wrestling going, and both men nearly forced the other to submit when changing positions on the floor.

Armfield got Hiestand back in the second, however. Despite nearly getting choked out to end the first and looking downright exhausted, he came out firing, sticking Hiestand with hard straight punches. Hiestand was out on his feet then out on the canvas, but he somehow managed to survive the onslaught. Not only that, but he got back into the fight with his wrestling and returned to scrapping when on his feet.

Everything was up for grabs with five minutes remaining, and Hiestand just refused to be denied. Despite obvious exhaustion from both, Hiestand was able to push Armfield into the fence, sneak behind him, and land a big slam. He jumped on the neck yet again, and this time, there would be no miraculous hand-fighting from the boxer.

A great fight from start-to-finish that raised the stocks of both in my eyes.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

A Flyweight First

At 6’ tall, Jose Johnson made UFC history as the tallest Flyweight yet. Unfortunately for him, Asu Almabayev was more than prepared. It was a dicey couple minutes for Almabayev as he tried to navigate the range early on, but a caught kick proved the perfect takedown opportunity.

I doubt many enjoyed watching Almabayev’s grinding wrestling style, but his transitions really stood out to me. He can chain takedowns together really well, and his ability to hunt the back during scrambles was really impressive. Johnson’s size and submission game from bottom gave Almabayev some trouble, but he still managed to take his back and nearly choke him out on several occasions.

Now 3-0 in the UFC, Almabayev looks ready for a Top 10 opponent.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Additional Thoughts

• Westin Wilson defeats Jeka Saragih via first-round triangle-armbar (highlights): This was a fun fight for as long as it lasted! Saragih started fast, aiming to hand Wilson his third-straight knockout losses. Wilson flipped the script with a committed wrestling attack, however, getting Saragih down early. Wilson attacked a triangle, and Saragih tried to slam his way out of the hold. When that failed, Wilson transitioned to an armbar and forced the finish, likely saving his UFC career in the process.
• Melquizael Costa defeats Shayilan Nuerdanbieke via third-round rear naked choke: This was a reasonably fun grappling match. Nuerdanbieke was really insistent on his double leg takedown and did score some decent positions, but he exhausted himself trying to overpower Costa. Conversely, Costa was able to outlast his opponent without taking much damage, and when given the opportunity to turn the tables, he capitalized with creative grappling and a quick submission win.

For complete UFC Vegas 93: “Perez vs. Taira” results and play-by-play, click HERE!

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Tatsuro Taira and Gervonta Davis ended their respective main event bouts without the need of the judges, with Taira earning a second-round TKO victory in the main event of UFC Vegas 93, while Davis delivered a thunderous knockout of Frank Martin in the eighth round of their boxing match in Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, longtime competitive rivals Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen had themselves an underwhelming sparring match in the boxing ring in Brazil.

Following a weird and wild trio of events in the combat sports world, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Eric Jackman react to Taira’s biggest win to date against Alex Perez, Davis’ incredible finish and the options that are ahead for him, Silva and Sonnen’s exhibition bout at Spaten Fight Night, other standout performances from Saturday night, and more.

Catch the UFC Vegas 93, Silva vs. Sonnen 3, and Tank vs. Martin post-fight show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your pods.

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UFC Vegas 93 took place on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.  Headlining the fight card was a flyweight bout between fifth-ranked Alex Perez and 13th-ranked Tatsuro Taira.  

Taira won via TKO in the second round after Perez was injured while being taken down.  He extended his undefeated record to 16-0 and will leap into contender status in the rankings.   

UFC Vegas 93 Post-Fight Press Conference

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Tatsuro Taira made the most of his first UFC main event, even if the result wasn’t pretty.

The undefeated Japanese flyweight kept his perfect record intact, improving to 16-0 after opponent Alex Perez was unable to continue due to a knee injury. The finish came after Taira took Perez’s back and intertwined their legs, which led to the fighters falling back and Perez immediately grabbing at his leg in pain.

Watch video of the ending below.

Referee Herb Dean was quick to react to Perez’s injury and he officially waved off the bout at the 2:59 mark of Round 2.

That’s now six wins in the UFC for Taira, a 24-year-old prospect who joined the promotion in 2022. Perez falls to 25-9 with the loss and faces an uncertain future with the severity of his injury still to be determined.

As for Taira, he made his plans clear in his post-fight interview. Asked who his next opponent should be, Taira aimed at the very top of the division, calling for a fight with flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja.

Though it’s unclear if the matchmakers are looking to shoot Taira to the front of the contenders’ line, he fared well in the biggest test of his young career. Perez took the fight to his less experienced foe in the first round, utilizing leg kicks and quick combos to keep Taira at bay. Taira’s strategy was focused around using a Thai clinch to smother Perez, but the one-time title challenger kept the fight at his preferred distance for the majority of Round 1.

Taira entered Round 2 down on the scorecards, but showed off improved striking to narrow the gap. He may also have benefited from a pair of eye pokes, one in each round, each of which caused brief delays in the fight. Eventually, Taira scored a takedown and took Perez’s back. Perez worked to stand and prevent Taira from securing the position, which led to the fateful fall.

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