Tatsuro Taira tried to make history in a recent high-octane clash with Joshua Van, and someone close to the former weighed in on that UFC title bout. Taira was aiming to be the first ever Japanese fighter to win a UFC championship, and despite a spirited effort, was halted inside the distance by Joshua Van last month in Newark, New Jersey.
Hiromasa Ougikubo is the referenced combatant in question who is close to Taira, and Ougikubo is one of the top-level flyweights in the world today. Ougikubo is the reigning and defending flyweight champion under the Rizin Fighting Federation banner and defends his belt against Makoto Shinryu at Rizin Landmark 14 on June 6th. Hiromasa Ougikubo is also a frequent training partner of Taira’s, and when weighing in on the latter’s loss to Joshua Van at UFC 328, Ougikubo said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“So my honest thought just from watching the fight, you would have to give it to Joshua Van. He fought very well and he was able to expose Taira and he is just a very talented fighter. That’s my honest opinion.”
Tatsuro Taira’s loss to Joshua Van validates latter as the true UFC champ, per Ougikubo
One of Ougikubo’s big career wins came against Alexandre Pantoja, who stands out as one of the more successful UFC flyweight champions in history. Many prior to the Taira title defense felt like Van’s status as the number one heflyweight was in question while considering the nature of the injury-related TKO championship win over Pantoja that saw Van capture the 125-pound crown. When asked if this Taira victory underscores that Van is truly the UFC champion in some regards, Ougikubo stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“So obviously Taira and myself, we train from the same dojo. We come from the same dojo. So with all that bias aside, I was thinking that Taira would be able to submit Van for sure. But once the fight revealed itself, Van was very good on the ground. He was very slick. He was able to get past very dangerous situations and obviously his striking was very, very good.”
“So when you look at the Pantoja fight, Yeah, that was definitely an accident. So, we can’t really determine things from there. But based off of the Taira performance, I do believe that he deserves to be the UFC flyweight champion.”