This was supposed to happen at UFC 327, but Va pulled out with an injury. They never said what the injury was. My theory is these ufc 328 tickets were slogging, so they tried to juice it with another title fight.
Tatsuro Taira is very good. I didn't always believe that but the way he dismantled Moreno was impressive. He has solid striking, good takedowns and very good control. The problem however is he doesn't love striking pressure. He was losing the Alex Perez fight before Alex's knee exploded and then he actually lost the Royval fight. The common denominator in those fights was the striking pressure. Josh Van may be the best pressure striker in that division right now. He has a great chin, insane volume and very good defensive wrestling. Comparing Taira to Rei Tsutura would be insulting and racist, but Rei is an incredible wrestler and Josh had zero issues. He also had zero issues with Cody Durden and Zhalgas Zhumagulov. Taira is clearly a different animal on the feet, but so was Royval. People hate the way Van celebrated in his win for the title but the kid is good.
Joshua Van
Josh Van is a solid striker with aggression, volume and power. His takedown and scramble skills are decent and as he is only 24 years old, everything is improving from fight to fight. He is the new generation of fighter so even though he is primarily a striker, he is good everywhere and can grapple as well. His pocket striking is incredible but he does get hit a ton, the good news is though that he doesn't cut or bleed. He is coming off the freak injury win over Alexandre Pantoja.
Tatsuro Taira
Tatsuro Taira is also pretty young at 26 years old but has solid experience and is a highly respected prospect. Style wise he is a patient striker with ok power in his hands and strong grappling. He does not have the best takedowns in the division but he will stick with them and drag you to the ground. If he gets you to the ground, you aren't going anywhere because he has incredible control. He is coming off the back take destruction over former champion Brandon Moreno.
