is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Flyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of June 18, 2024, he is #5 in the UFC flyweight rankings. Taira is the first and only fighter to date born in the 2000s to fight in and win a UFC main event.

Background

Taira started playing baseball in the third grade of elementary school but was not passionate about it and took a break in junior high school from club activities. Influenced by his older brother who was learning kickboxing at The Palaestra Okinawa, he started attending the gym in his first year of high school and trained in mixed martial arts under Ryota Matsune's guidance. In 2017, he won the 11th Kyushu Amateur Shooto Championship tournament and the 24th All-Japan Amateur Shooto Championship tournament, and was promoted to the professional ranks with a record of ten wins in ten amateur Shooto fights. He lists Marlon Vera as his favorite fighter, and Vera himself sent a message to Taira in Japanese, saying "Thank you."

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

On August 3, 2018, he made his professional debut against Yo Otake in the first round of the flyweight division of the Shooto Rookie of the Year Tournament, winning by first-round triangle choke. On November 25, 2018, he rematched Ryu Oyakawa, whom he fought twice as an amateur, in the flyweight final of the Shooto Newcomer's Championship Tournament, winning by first-round guillotine choke. He won the flyweight rookie champion and MVP of the same year. On September 22, 2019, he fought Takahiro Kobori, ranked #8 in the Shooto World Flyweight Rankings, and won by TKO via ground & pound 60 seconds into the fight. Taira was next scheduled to face Kiyotaka Shimizu at Shooto 0329 on March 29, 2020. However, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bout was then rebooked to take place at Shooto 1123 on November 23, 2020 and he won the fight via unanimous decision. Won by rear-naked choke 61 seconds into the match against Yoshiro Maeda, ranked #5 in the world flyweight division by Shooto, on March 20, 2021. On July 4, 2021, he faced champion Tatsuya Fukuda at the Shooto World Flyweight Championship and won by first-round triangle choke to win the title. On November 6, 2021, he fought LFN flyweight champion Alfredo Muaiad at VTJ 2021 and won by first-round rear-naked choke.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On February 4, 2022, he signed a multi-fight contract with the UFC. On April 30, 2022, he was scheduled to fight Carlos Candelario at UFC on ESPN: Font vs. Vera, but the fight was cancelled after Candelario pulled out due to food poisoning just before the event. The fight against Candelario was rescheduled for two weeks later on May 14, 2022, at UFC on ESPN: Błachowicz vs. Rakić. He won the fight by unanimous decision. On October 15, 2022, he faced

C.J. Vergara Carlos Vergara (born June 18, 1991) is an American Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competes in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Vergara began training under Pete Spratt at his Muay Tha ...

at UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Araújo, winning by armbar submission in the second round. Taira won the ''Performance of the Night'' bonus. The fight took place under the condition that Vergara pay 30% of the fight money to Taira because Vergara weighed 3 pounds over the flyweight limit at the previous day's weigh-in. On February 4, 2023, Taira faced Jesús Santos Aguilar at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Spivac, winning by first-round triangle armbar. In the process, he also won his second consecutive ''Performance of the Night'' bonus. On May 21, 2023, at Professional Shooto 2023 Vol. 3, he vacated his Shooto Flyweight Championship, stating that he could not defend his Shooto title as he would be fighting in the UFC. On June 24, 2023, he was scheduled to face off against Kleydson Rodrigues at UFC on ABC: Emmett vs. Topuria, but the bout was canceled after Rodrigues weighed 3 pounds (1.3 kg) over the flyweight limit the day before the weigh-in. Taira was rebooked for a week later at

UFC 290 ''UFC 290: Volkanovski vs. Rodríguez'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 8, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena facility in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, ...

against UFC newcomer Edgar Chairez in a 130-pound catchweight bout. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Taira was scheduled to face David Dvořák on October 14, 2023, at UFC Fight Night 230. However, the bout was cancelled for unknown reasons. Taira faced Carlos Hernandez on December 9, 2023, at UFC Fight Night 233 He won the fight via knockout in round two. Taira was scheduled to face Tim Elliott on May 18, 2024, at

UFC Fight Night 241 ''UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Murphy'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 241'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 99'' and ''UFC Vegas 92'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on May 18, 2024, at the UFC ...

. However, due to Elliott's undisclosed injury, the bout was canceled. Taira was then scheduled to face Joshua Van on June 1, 2024 at

UFC 302 ''UFC 302: Makhachev vs. Poirier'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 1, 2024, at the Prudential Center, in Newark, New Jersey, United States. Background The event marked the ...

. The fight was then switched and Taira ended up headlining

UFC on ESPN 58 ''UFC on ESPN: Perez vs. Taira'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 58'' and ''UFC Vegas 93'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 15, 2024, at the UFC Apex facility, in Enterprise, Nev ...

against Alex Perez in the main event on June 15, 2024. Taira won the fight by technical knockout as a result of Perez's knee injury in the second round. This fight earned him another '' Performance of the Night'' award. Taira is scheduled to face former LFA Flyweight Champion and former UFC Flyweight Championship title contender Brandon Royval on October 12, 2024 in the main event at UFC Fight Night 244.

Championships and accomplishments

* Ultimate Fighting Championship ** Performance of the Night (Three times) **Tied ( Deiveson Figueiredo) for fifth longest win streak in UFC Flyweight division history (5) **Third most control time percentage in UFC Flyweight division history (50.5%) **Second most top-position percentage in UFC Flyweight division history (46.7%) **Second highest striking differential in UFC Flyweight division history (1.66) **Second fewest strikes absorbed-per-minute in UFC Flyweight division history (1.72) **Second highest submissions-per-15 minutes in UFC Flyweight division history (2.47) * Shooto ** Shooto Flyweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 16–0 , Alex Perez , TKO (knee injury) , UFC on ESPN: Perez vs. Taira , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:59 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 15–0 , Carlos Hernandez , TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Gutiérrez , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:55 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 14–0 , Edgar Chairez , Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–0 , Jesús Santos Aguilar , Submission (triangle armbar) , UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Spivac , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:20 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–0 ,

, Submission (armbar) , UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Araújo , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:19 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–0 , Carlos Candelario , Decision (unanimous) , UFC on ESPN: Błachowicz vs. Rakić , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 , Alfredo Muaiad , Submission (rear-naked choke) , VTJ 2021 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:12 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Ryuya Fukuda , Submission (triangle choke) , Shooto 2021 Vol.4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:31 , Osaka, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Yoshiro Maeda , Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) , Shooto 2021 Vol.2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:01 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Kiyotaka Shimizu , Decision (unanimous) , Shooto 2020 Vol.7 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Jared Almazan , TKO (punches) , Shooto 2020 in Korakuen Hall , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:19 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Yamato Takagi , TKO (punches) , The Shooto Okinawa Vol.2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:40 , Okinawa, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Takahiro Kohori , TKO (punches) , Shooto Border: Season 11 the 3rd , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:00 , Osaka, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Yuto Sekiguchi , Decision (unanimous) , Shooto: Gig Tokyo 27 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Ryo Oyakawa , Submission (guillotine choke) , The Shooto Okinawa Vol.1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:24 , Okinawa, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Yo Otake , Submission (triangle choke) , Shooto: This Is Shooto 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:46 , Tokyo, Japan ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taira, Tatsuro 2000 births Living people Japanese male mixed martial artists Flyweight mixed martial artists Bantamweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing kickboxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Japanese practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from Naha