Watch out, Pantoja! MMA prospect surprises and knocks out former champion Moreno at UFC 323

Taira promotes UFC event. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook/UFC

Tatsuro Taira shone in UFC 323. At the event held this Saturday (6), in Las Vegas (USA), the Japanese faced Brandon Moreno And he didn't respect him in the octagon. Despite being a jiu-jitsu specialist, the MMA prospect showed improvement in his game and knocked out the former flyweight champion (up to 57 kg) of the company via ground and pound in the second round.

With the victory, an excited Taira asked to fight for the flyweight title, whose leader is... Alexandre pantojaFollowing that, it's worth highlighting that this was the Japanese athlete's biggest career victory. Furthermore, the athlete, currently ranked fifth in the category, is expected to overtake the Mexican athlete for second place in the company's next ranking update.

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Notable evolution

As expected, the fight started with a lot of action. Taira startled Moreno with a straight punch. Experienced, Moreno wasn't fazed and waited for the right moment to attack. Taira then went for a takedown, but fell straight into a tight triangle choke by Moreno. A jiu-jitsu specialist, Taira survived, but couldn't land a strike on Moreno.

In the second round, the fighters landed punches on each other. Then, Taira grabbed Moreno and took him to the ground. There, Taira took Moreno's back and delivered a powerful sequence of punches, forcing the referee to stop the fight.

Results UFC 323

MAIN CARD

Bantamweight belt (up to 61,2 kg): Petr yan derrotou Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision of the judges (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)

Flyweight belt (up to 57 kg): Joshua Van derrotou Alexandre pantoja by technical knockout (arm injury) at 26 seconds of round 1

Flyweight (up to 57 kg): Tatsuro Taira derrotou Brandon Moreno by technical knockout (punches) at 2:24 of R2

Bantam weight (up to 61,2 kg): Payton Talbott derrotou Henry Cejudo by unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Light heavyweight (up to 93 kg): Jan Blachowicz x Bogdan Guskov It ended in a majority draw (29-28, 28-28, 28-28).

PRELIMINARY CARD

Light weight (up to 70,3 kg): Manuel Torres derrotou Grant dawson by technical knockout (punches) at 2min25sec of R1

Light weight (up to 70,3 kg): Chris Duncan derrotou terrance mckinney by submission (Anaconda choke) at 2:30 of Round 1

Flyweight (up to 57 kg): Maycee barber derrotou Karina Silva by unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Light weight (up to 70,3 kg): fares ziam derrotou Nazim Sadykhov by technical knockout (elbows) at 4:59 of round 2

Average weight (up to 83,9 kg): Bruno Hulk derrotou Marvin vettori by unanimous decision of the judges (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Light weight (up to 70,3 kg): jalin turner derrotou Edson Barboza by technical knockout (punches) at 2min24sec of R1

Light heavyweight (up to 93 kg): Iwo Baraniewski defeated Ibo Aslan by knockout (punch) at 1min29sec of R1

Average weight (up to 83,9 kg): Mansur Abdul-Malik derrotou Antonio Trocoli by submission (standing guillotine choke) at 1 minute and 9 seconds of round 1.

Featherweight (up to 65,8 kg): Mairon Santos derrotou Muhammad Naimov by technical knockout (punches) at 21 seconds of round 3