Tatsuro Taira has a clear goal in mind.
This past Saturday, Taira scored the biggest win of his career when he stopped Alex Perez in the main event of UFC Vegas 93. The finish came after Taira took Perez’s back, leading to Perez struggling to keep his feet and ultimately injuring his knee as Taira dragged him to the mat. While Taira acknowledges the injury wasn’t planned, the Japanese fighter says that it’s the sort of thing that can happen if you try to defend that position.
“The position, I am used to it and it is one of my strengths that I work on,” Taira told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour on Wednesday through a Japanese interpreter. “It was an accident, but if he wants to keep that position long, that’s the result that’s going to happen.
“When I was on his back, I did feel he was defending the choke pretty well, so the only option for me was to take him to the ground.”
The win is Taira’s sixth straight since joining the UFC in 2022, and elevated the 24-year-old super prospect into the UFC’s flyweight top 5. It’s a better start to his UFC run than even he could have imagined, but Taira doesn’t plan on stopping there.
“Very, very honestly, after fighting six fights, would I be 6-0? That probably wasn’t what [I would have thought] back then,” Taira said when asked about the impressive start to his UFC career. “But when I came to the UFC my goal was to take the belt so the goal has never been changed...”
“To become the first Japanese UFC champion is definitely my goal.”
No Japanese fighter has ever won a divisional title in the UFC, though Kazushi Sakuraba and Kenichi Yamamoto both won one-night tournaments, at UFC Ultimate Japan and UFC Ultimate Japan 2, respectively. And though he is still just 24 years old, Taira believes he’s ready to join those men in holding UFC gold, if champion Alexandre Pantoja will only give him a chance.
“I would just say I am ready,” Taira said. “But I know everyone will think I’m [just now] top-five. Just looking at the top-5 other fighters, I’m excited to fight anyone...”
“Pantoja, can you fight against me in Japan?” Taira added. “I’ve [followed] you since The Ultimate Fighter days, I know you’re a great fighter, but I do want to challenge you and get that belt.”
