Tatsuro Taira has long been considered one of the top prospects in the flyweight division, but he hopes to graduate to No. 1 contender after his fight at UFC 323.
At 25 years old, Taira is still young in his career but a 17-1 overall record including seven wins in the UFC places him near the top of the 125-pound division. On Saturday, Taira gets arguably the best opportunity to separate himself from the rest of the fighters vying for a title shot when he faces former champion Brandon Moreno on the pay-per-view main card.
With that name, and the magnitude that comes along with it, Taira is confident his next step after beating Moreno is a shot at the gold.
“Brandon Moreno is the best fighter that I’ve faced since coming to the UFC,” Taira told MMA Fighting. “I’m very excited to be able to go against such a fighter, so I was very happy and eager to accept this fight. It’s a big opportunity.
“With new fighters coming in the rankings, I think it’s becoming a very exciting weight class. And among those, I will for sure be the next contender.”
Right now, Taira is just one fight removed from the suffering the first loss of his career in a razor-close split-decision against Brandon Royval back in 2024. He bounced back with a dominant submission victory in his next fight but the loss to Royval ended the 16 fight undefeated run to start his career.
There are very few fighters in the history of the sport who ever walk away with an unblemished record but don’t expect Taira to cry about the one loss now decorating his resume.
If anything, Taira admits that setback may have actually freed him from the constraints that come along with always trying desperately to maintain that flawless record.
“I was happy with my record, and still am,” Taira said. “I became free of the pressure that I have to be perfect and stay undefeated. But truly, the first fight after a loss, I had a lot of pressure to not make it two in a row.”
When it comes to the fight against Moreno on Saturday, Taira is ready for every possible scenario that gets thrown at him but he also plans on keeping the former champion guessing.
Taira admits he has a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Moreno and everything he’s accomplished but that doesn’t put him on some unbeatable pedestal where he can’t get knocked down again.
“He has shown his strength against top ranked [fighters] in the last two fights,” Taira said. “But if you look into it, it’s not like he’s dominating, so I try not to overreact to it.
“He is an all-rounder with tough striking. But his style carries some roughness around the edges, I hope I can catch him off guard and finish.”
With the flyweight title going up for grabs just minutes after Taira faces Moreno at UFC 323, he obviously has a vested interest in how everything shakes out for the division.
Taira has confidence that reigning UFC champion Alexandre Pantoja will successfully defend his title against Joshua Van and he predicts a finish “ in the second or third round with a back choke.”
Perhaps he’ll provide a similar finish and then Taira knows he’ll be the next one in line awaiting the champion with designs on claiming the title in 2026.
“Nothing but respect to Brandon,” Taira said. “But I will take a big win so the UFC can be confident enough to say the next contender is Taira.”