Breaking Down UFC Fight Night Perez VS Taira

Written by: Danny Albers 

Women’s Strawweight Bout

Josefine Knutsson (8-0) VS Julia Polastri (12-4) 

Result: Josefine Knutsson wins by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) 

Ranking amongst winners: Not ranked in top 5

The undefeated 28-year old Swedish prospect picked up her 3rd win in the UFC. I’d like to see her work on her takedown defense and grappling. Polastri went 3-3 on takedowns and controlled the fight for 4:34. But Knutsson was a lot more refined on the feet. She landed 145 strikes, 124 of them significant. Polastri only landed 86. 

Featherweight Bout 

Melquizael Costa (21-7) VS Shayilan Nuerdanbieke (39-12) 

Result: Melquizael Costa wins by 3rd round submission (rear naked choke) 

Ranking amongst winners: Not ranked in top 4

Shayilan Nuerdanibieke had an agenda in the fight. He wasn’t really throwing any strikes to Costa, only throwing 28 total strikes and landing 20. But he did have 6:26 of ground control in this short fight. But Costa was no slouch in the grappling department landing 2 takedowns himself. The Chinese Top Team fighter was on a 3 fight win streak at one point, but when he got knocked out by Steve Garcia it was clear the wrestler lost his willingness to stand and trade. Costa is pretty well rounded, and has shown the ability to end fights. He’s struggled to get on a role. Maybe this big victory will be the start to win streak for the young Brazilian fighter. 

Featherweight Bout 

Jeka Saragih (14-4) VS Westin Wilson (17-9)

Result: Westin Wilson wins by 1st round submission (Triangle Choke with Armbar) 

Ranking amongst winners: 3 

Westin Wilson got the job done in under 2 minutes. The fight went down and Wilson locked in a nasty triangle choke that immediately looked like it was giving Jeka problems. When Wilson took over the arm, Jeka had nowhere to go but to tap out. This was the first UFC win for Wilson after starting 0-2. None of his 3 fights have gone out of the 1st round. He’s been knocked out twice, but his submission skills are dangerous if he can get the fight to the ground. 

Women’s Flyweight Bout 

Carli Judice (3-2) VS Gabriella Fernandes (9-3) 

Result: Gabriella Fernandes wins by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Ranking amongst winners: Not ranked in top 5

I don’t think the judges got this one right. Carli Judice has made a statement in just 4 fights to get on this stage, with 3 KOs in 3 different promotions. She faced a former LFA champion who’s 0-2 since making the jump to the big leagues. On the feet Fernandes was outmatched. Judice led the striking battle 186-126. Both women had 2 takedowns, but Judice had a better percentage at 50%. She checked 6 take down attempts from Fernandes. Gabriella had the advantage when the fight was on the ground, but not enough to overlook the fact that she lost every category besides ground control. Her first UFC win has an asterisk next to it. 

Flyweight Bout 

Jimmy Flick (17-8) VS Nate Maness (16-3) 

Result: Nate Maness wins by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Ranking amongst winners: Not ranked in top 5

A dominating performance for Nate Maness! He picked up his second win in a row. Maness has a wrestling background, so he embraced going to the ground where he had over 4 minutes of control time. He landed 139 total strikes to Flick’s 41. Flick never gave up on the fight. He continued to try and find ways to pull out a win, attempting a submission twice. He just got overwhelmed. 

Welterweight Bout 

Josh Quinlan (6-3) VS Adam Fugitt (10-4) 

Result: Adam Fugitt wins by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 28-29)

Ranking amongst winners: Not ranked in top 5

Neither fighter looked very good. I’m not sure what happened to Josh Quinlan, but now that he’s lost 3 fights in a row he’ll probably be out of the UFC. Adam Fugitt’s striking was chaotic and inaccurate, landing 80-205 strikes. He won this fight on activity alone. He was at least attempting offense maneuvers whereas Quinlan looked overwhelmed.    

Flyweight Bout 

Asu Almabayev (20-2) VS Jose Johnson (16-9) 

Result: Asu Almabayev wins by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) 

Ranking amongst other winners: 5

Almabayev is going to be a problem in the flyweight division. The fighter out of Kazakhstan has grappling skills similar to his countryman Khamzat Chimiev. He’s now 3-0 in the UFC after submitting Ode Osbourne in his debut. He had 6 takedowns and controlled this fight for 11:24. He also outstruck Johnson 77-58. 

Bantamweight Bout 

Brady Hiestand (9-2) VS Garrett Armfield (10-4) 

Result: Brady Hiestand wins by 3rd round submission (rear naked choke) 

Ranking amongst other winners: 2

Brady Hiestand was a stand out The Ultimate Fighter. He’s the training partner of Michael Chiesea. Since beating Vince Murdock in the TUF 29 semifinal in 2021, Hiestand has rattled off 3 straight wins. Garrett Armfield is the biggest win of Brady’s career. He scored 6 takedowns and attempted 3 submissions before locking in a rear naked in the 3rd round to get the win. At only 25 years old, Hiestand has an interesting future. He’s a little on dimensional, with his takedowns and submission skills being the strength of his game. He’s very similar to his training partner in that aspect. 

Featherweight Bout 

Timmy Cuamba (8-3) VS Lucas Almeida (15-3) 

Result: Lucas Almeida wins by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) 

Ranking amongst winners: Not ranked in top 5

Almeida brought the heat with his striking. He looked really dangerous and knocked down Cuamba with some nasty combinations. Cuamba was pretty effective on the takedowns and it was clear he had the advantage once the fight went to the ground. But Almeida did a good job in limiting the grappling and staying on the feet long enough to do enough damage to win on the cards. 

Bantamweight Bout 

Douglas Silva de Andrade (29-6) VS Miles Johns (15-2) 

Result: Miles Johns wins by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) 

Ranking amongst winners: Not ranked in top 5

Both men spent a lot of time feeling eachother out. Neither man was effective on the ground, and the striking was almost non-existent. Johns, a wrestler, landed 52 strikes, but limited his opponent to 36 and no takedowns. I’m not sure where people saw Andrade winning a round in this fight. Johns has now won 3 of his last 4 fights with 1 no contest against Dan Argueta. 

Flyweight Bout 

Alex Perez (25-9) VS Tatsuro Taira (16-0) 

Result: Tatsuro Taira wins by 2nd round TKO (injury)

Ranking amongst winners: 1  

The unbeaten Japanese sensation made a statement against Alex Perez in this fight. The injury was no fluke. With Taira on his back Perez flipped to the ground, but the awkward leg lock that Taira had in made Perez land weirdly and ended the fight. Alex’s striking is dangerous, and he can end any fight in an instant, but Taira stood and obliged on the feet landing 43 to Perez’s 45 strikes. It will be interesting to see how Taira handles a top opponent as that seems to be the next step from here. Perez’s grappling isn’t as refined as some of the other top contenders in the flyweight division. It will only get more challenging for Taira from here.