By:  | June 27, 2023 2:16 pm

Tatsuro Taira’s UFC on ABC 5 fight with Kleydson Rodriguez was called off at the last minute when the Brazilian missed weight. The Japanese flyweight has not commented on cancellation until now.

But he took to Twitter to make a very brief statement which can be translated as,

Thanks to everyone who supports us, we are looking forward and moving forward! Thank you very much.

Second time

Taira only signed with the promotion last year but this is the second time he has been in this situation. The 21 year old’s UFC debut was delayed by two weeks after opponent Carlos Candelario fell ill.

On that occasion Taira and his team elected to extend their trip to the US in order to compete in the rescheduled fight. There is no news about whether the UFC has managed to rebook him but having missed weight for his last two bouts Rodriguez might not get another chance to compete at 125lbs.

Taira tipped the scales at 126lbs, with fighters allowed to come in 1lbs over agreed weight for non title fights this was right on the limit. But Rodriguez came in at 129lbs, which is 3lbs over the limit.

Behind the scenes

There must have been some negotiations behind the second as Taira presumably had the option to go ahead and fight Rodriguez while taking 20% of the Brazilian’s purse. But the Japanese fighter ultimately decided not to go ahead and fight an opponent who had a 3lbs weight advantage.

It means Taira’s wait to crack the top 15 at flyweight will be extended. He has won three fights out of three for the UFC but has yet to face a ranked opponent.

This was the 23 year old’s first social media update since the fight was cancelled so it is not clear whether he has flown back to Japan or is still in the US. Having completed his training camp and successfully made weight Taira will not want to wait too long for his next fight.

But Taira is on fantastic form having finished his last two opponents so there might not be too many flyweights volunteering to face him at short notice. He will surely be hoping that the UFC matchmakers are able to find someone sooner rather than later.