Japan's Tatsuro Taira maintained his unbeaten record but an injury to Alex Perez meant a disappointing end to an exciting flyweight bout.
In the main event of UFC on ESPN 58 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Tyra (16-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) raised her hand after Perez (25-9 MMA, 7-5 UFC) was unable to continue after suffering a knee injury during a series of takedowns. The official time of the stoppage was 2 minutes, 59 seconds into the second round.
The fight was fast and frequent for as long as it lasted, with the flyweights keeping referee Herb Dean on his toes.
Taira started the bout with some technical striking, primarily with his left jab, while Perez charged in with combinations. Taira withstood the onslaught and took a few clean hits to the chin, but quickly fought back. The first round was tense and built up anticipation for how the rest of the bout would play out.
Perez continued to charge forward in the second round, trading some more impressive strikes early on, but Taira found an opportunity for a takedown and quickly went for Perez's back, which led to the disappointing end of the bout.
Taira initially went for a rear-naked choke on the mat, but was able to get a firm grip on Perez's back as he stood up. In the center of the cage, Taira leaned back and applied pressure to Perez's legs, trying to bring the fight back to the ground. Taira was successful, but Perez's knees hurt as he fell.
Perez tapped and began writhing in pain, but the cageside doctor rushed in to check on him.
One of the most promising newcomers in the flyweight division, the 24-year-old Taira is unbeaten and coming off a win over a former title challenger. While injury wasn't expected to be a factor in his win, he is now 6-0 at UFC, with four of his wins coming by finish.
The 32-year-old Perez came into the bout after beating Matheus Nicolau in April for what was named Performance of the Night. Unfortunately, injury forced the competitive bout with Tyra to be cut short midway.
Here are the latest UFC on ESPN 58 results:
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Tatsuro Taira defeats Alex Perez by TKO (knee injury) – Round 2, 2:59
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Myles Johns defeats Douglas Silva de Andrade by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
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Lucas Almeida defeats Timmy Cuamba by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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Brady Heistand defeats Garrett Armfield by submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 1:52
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As Almabaev defeats Jose Johnson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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Adam Fugitt defeats Josh Quinlan by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
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Nate Maness defeats Jimmy Flick by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
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Gabriela Fernandez defeats Kari Giudice by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
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Westin Wilson defeats Jeka Saragi by submission (armbar) – Round 1, 1:49
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Melquisael Costa defeats Shaylan Nurdambieque by submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 1:50
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Josefine Knutsson defeats Julia Polastri by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
For more on the card, check out MMA Junkie's UFC on ESPN 58 event hub.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie
