Van and Taira complete final face-off before UFC 328 title fight

Joshua Van and Tatsuro Taira stood across from each other one final time Thursday at the UFC 328 ceremonial weigh-ins, completing their last formal pre-fight obligation before the two flyweights meet for the championship on Saturday, May 9.

Van, known as "The Fearless," enters the bout as the reigning flyweight champion, carrying a 17-2 record at just 24 years old. The Myanmar-born fighter out of 4oz. Fight Club is one of the more relentless offensive forces in the division, landing an eye-catching 8.84 significant strikes per minute at 56 percent accuracy. Standing five-foot-five with a 65-inch reach, he fights out of an orthodox stance and has shown limited reliance on the grappling game, averaging fewer than one takedown per 15 minutes and no recorded submission attempts.

Taira arrives as the number-five ranked flyweight contender with an 18-2 record. The 26-year-old Japanese fighter from The Blackbelt Japan team presents a sharply contrasting profile. At five-foot-seven with a notably longer 70-inch reach, he lands strikes at 60 percent accuracy while averaging 3.12 takedowns per 15 minutes and 1.6 submission attempts in the same span, marking him as a genuine grappling threat.

Why it matters

• Van puts his flyweight title on the line for what figures to be a high-stakes divisional moment
• Taira's ranking at fifth in the division makes this a legitimate championship challenge
• The stylistic contrast is stark — Van's elite striking volume against Taira's takedown-heavy, submission-oriented game
• At a combined age of 50, both men represent the present and near future of the 125-pound weight class