News Joshua Van vs Tatsuro Taira set for UFC 302 on June 1st

[JoeRowe]

This fight should be on the maincard or headline the prelims. A+ matchmaking. Loser will not suffer but a minor setback as the winner climbs towards a title fight. Think Usman/Leon 1 or Figgy/Pantoja

 

[markys00]

This is a shuffled fight. Something happened bc tiara was supposed to be on the barboza fight night (I think). The replacement is better than the original. But, yea, sucks one has to lose.

 

[ExitLUPin]

I hope this poll reflects the odds. War Van

 

[Siver!]

Just feels like a routine win for Taira to be honest.

Hopefully if Van does indeed lose, he gets his licks in and isn't completely written off. I fear it may be pretty one-sided though leaving Van the tough task of rebuilding back to this new, higher level.

 

[RockyLockridge]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH


Snap.

Awesome fight but will kill off one of the top up and comers in a division that really needs them so that sucks.

Couldn't agree more... this could be a future title fight.... why do this now?

 

[fortheo]

Van is the better striker, but at a pretty big height and reach disadvantage. Taira has the grappling advantage, too.

Also. In a division that needs fresh blood at the top, they shouldn't be making two of their most exciting prospects kill each other off. I'll enjoy the fight, but this is bad management of the division

 

[NoSmilez]

I like Taira. I am tired of Japanese fighters coming to America to lose a decision. Hopefully he can keep climbing.

 

[Neck&Neck]

Oh shit,they cursed it with the “don’t blink”

 

[HuskySamoan]

Win or lose, I'd love to see some slick scrambles and I'd like to see Taira flex his stand up a bit more.

Van can really bang. I'm not sure Taira wants to flex in this one. It's horrible matchmaking by the way, Taira should be fighting someone like Perez or Elliot to be built up right now, instead he's risking his undefeated record and momentum vs a new to the division, unranked, under the radar but very talented prospect. If I was Tairas manager or coach I'd advise him not to take this.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Van is the better striker, but at a pretty big height and reach disadvantage. Taira has the grappling advantage, too.

Also. In a division that needs fresh blood at the top, they shouldn't be making two of their most exciting prospects kill each other off. I'll enjoy the fight, but this is bad management of the division

I believe Dvorak dropped out vs Taira and then Elliot dropped out vs Taira. Similarly for Van, first Lucas Rocha dropped out and then Su Madaerji. It's horrible matchmaking for Taira, he's putting his top 15 rank, undefeated record and hype on the line vs a guy who's super talented but has none of those things. There's a real argument Van is a potentially tougher fight than Dvorak or Elliot but also offers far less for Taira to gain with a win. @JoeRowe

Still a fun fight, Van is one of many Flyweights who would be at 115lbs or maybe 105lbs if there was a division for it. Van has good hips and is particularly good at pressuring from the inside and putting his punches together, he fights well short. Will be interesting to see if Taira can dominate with his grappling or at all control range here. Vans a bad dude but I do think his size will always be a limitation as the division evolves, it's clear we flesh out the more optimal size for Flyweights.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

Taira should be fighting a ranked opponent

 

[Siver!]

Taira should be fighting a ranked opponent

He was, bud, he was meant to fight Tim Elliott. They booked the right fight, it just fell through, so Taira got pushed back two weeks to face a new opponent.

Van was supposed to fight Su Mudaerji, but again the higher ranked guy fell through. Van fights on the same date.

Most other ranked guys are booked, so I guess they thought "fuck it, let's do it and keep these guys active".

Honestly, can't hate it, I just think Van gets rinsed here.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Sick fight. Even when one of them loses they can always climb the rankings and have a rematch in the future. It’s not a big deal that they are fighting now

 

[CieloLuce]

Excited for this fight. Hopefully it co mains.

 

[IneedSometop]

Really nice fight still early enough in both careers where a loss doesn't really hurt them at all. Excited to see how Taira stands up to the body work and if Van can stop the grappling

 

[Yosuke]

Taira was supposed to fight Elliot, who got injured. Taira by sub 1rd.

 

[Brigfa2]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH


Snap.




Couldn't agree more... this could be a future title fight.... why do this now?

Because this is not boxing, why delay it when you can enjoy it now?

 

[RockyLockridge]

Because this is not boxing, why delay it when you can enjoy it now?

Because it doesn't really make sense.

 

[OldBoy91]

You really can't please MMA fans.

They complain when you feed prospects with cannon fodder over and over and call for them to fight somebody with a pulse.

They still complain when the latter happens because "wahhh it will kill off a prospect".

It isn't like people can't come back from losses. MMA isn't boxing where a loss derails a fighters entire career, stop trying to protect people's records.

Also miss me with the crying over this. Everybody wanted Taira vs Mokaev, and both of those are legitimate future title challengers. Both have a higher ceiling than Van. People can't want that fight but whine about wasting prospects now.

 

[NicholasJBasile]

Van can really bang. I'm not sure Taira wants to flex in this one. It's horrible matchmaking by the way, Taira should be fighting someone like Perez or Elliot to be built up right now, instead he's risking his undefeated record and momentum vs a new to the division, unranked, under the radar but very talented prospect. If I was Tairas manager or coach I'd advise him not to take this.

Typical UFC matchmaking