UFC flyweight contender Tatsuro Taira responded to the first setback of his career in a big way Saturday, dominating South Korea's HyunSung Park at UFC Fight Night.
Taira (17-1) submitted Park (10-1) via face crank at 1:06 of the second round of their flyweight main event in Las Vegas. It was Taira's first appearance since he suffered the first loss of his career in October, a split decision defeat to Brandon Royval. The 25-year-old Japanese phenom looked as good as ever Saturday in recording his division-best fifth finish since 2022.
The 125-pound matchup was thrown together on short notice. Taira was originally supposed to face Amir Albazi at the UFC's Apex, but Albazi (17-2) was forced to withdraw last week because of undisclosed medical reasons. The UFC called on Park, who was scheduled to fight former title challenger Steve Erceg next week in Las Vegas.
Ultimately, the new pairing proved to be a complete mismatch. Taira dropped Park with a straight right hand in the opening minute and immediately took his back on the floor. Park showed good composure in recovering from the shot and staving off Taira's submission attempts, but he was at a loss in finding a way to detach himself from Taira and work back to his feet.
Taira wasted no time shooting into Park's hips in the second round, and once again slammed him to the ground in the opening minute. This time, Park failed to fight off Taira's grappling superiority and quickly tapped to the face crank. Taira has finished eight of his 17 career wins by submission, and another five by knockout.
The victory improves Taira's mark in the UFC to 7-1. He was the UFC's No. 6-ranked flyweight going into Saturday. In Albazi, he would have had a chance to fight the No. 4-ranked contender in the division.
Park, who signed with the company in 2023, came into the weekend unranked.