Joshua Van delivered another Fight of the Year contender and successfully defended his flyweight crown against Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328 on Saturday night.

The story of the opening round was a trio of takedowns from Taira, one of them coming less than a minute into the clash. Van managed to get back to his feet in all three instances and land some solid strikes, but the control time of Taira appeared to put the scorecards in his favor early on.

Taira secured another takedown in the second, but the story of the round came in the final minute when Van worked his way up and unleashed a hellacious right hand that put Taira on the mat. Van swarmed in looking for a finish, but Taira weathered the storm and made it to the third.

Van continued to dominate in the third, knocking down Taira once again and nearly cinching in a rear-naked choke. But despite his best effort, Taira weathered the storm and ended the round on top.

After a late takedown in the third, Taira recovered in the fourth and managed to put Van’s back on the mat for much of the five minutes. Unfortunately for Taira, that would be the last round he would see the end of.

In the fifth and final round, Van ripped to the body multiple times before landing a clean right hand that had Taira on the ropes and appearing to turn his back. For referee Jason Herzog, that was justification to step in and call for the stoppage.

Taira immediately protested, but his body language was that of a fighter unable to intelligently defend himself, thus the stoppage.

Official Result: Joshua Van def. Tatsuro Taira via TKO (strikes) at 1:32 of Round 5 to retain the UFC flyweight world championship.

Check Out Highlights From Joshua Van vs. Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328:

Craig Pekios

Craig Pekios is a freelance writer born and raised in Bettendorf, IA. Joining LowKick MMA in May 2022, Craig has more than 4,000 articles published that focus on the world of MMA and boxing, including news, event previews, results, analysis, and op-eds.