UFC Fight Roundup: Undefeated Tatsuro Taira takes on Tim Elliott on May 18
Fights come together fast these days, and if you blink, you can easily miss them. In Fight Roundup, we bring you the latest reported matchups to keep you up to date with what’s on the horizon.
All bouts featured have been officially announced or confirmed with MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, and Damon Martin via sources with knowledge of the matchups.
Tatsuro Taira vs. Tim Elliott
Angela Hill vs. Luana Pinheiro
Tatsura Taira faces the toughest challenge of his career when he fights one-time UFC title challenger Tim Elliott.
The 24-year-old flyweight is set to fight Elliott (20-13-1) at a UFC APEX event in Las Vegas on May 18. Eurosport was first to report the matchup.
In 15 pro bouts, Taira has yet to taste defeat. He has gone 5-0 against UFC competition with his most recent win taking place at UFC Vegas 83, where he defeated Carlos Hernandez via second-round TKO.
Elliott, 37, is coming off of a first-round submission of Sumudaerji this past December. He has won six of his past eight fights.
Currently, Taira and Elliott sit at No. 13 and No. 15, respectively, in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings.
Also scheduled for May 18 is a strawweight clash between No. 12 Angela Hill and Luana Pinheiro, first reported by MMA Junkie.
Hill (16-13) continues to be one of the toughest outs at 115 pounds, having recently scored a win via unanimous decision over 24-year-old prospect Denise Gomes. “Overkill” has won three of her past four fights, which includes decision nods over Emily Ducote and Loopy Godinez.
A 2020 Contender Series signing, Pinheiro (11-2) suffered the first loss of her UFC career this past November when she was stopped in the third round by Amanda Ribas. Prior to that setback, she won her first three UFC fights, including a split decision win against veteran Michelle Waterson-Gomez.
Tecia Torres vs. Tabatha Ricci
Matt Frevola vs. Michael Johnson
Jake Hadley vs. Charles Johnson
“The Tiny Tornado” is back.
In her first fight since giving birth in June 2023, Torres (13-6) returns to the octagon to fight No. 13-ranked Tabatha Ricci (9-2) in a strawweight bout at UFC St. Louis on May 11. News of the matchup was first broken on Belal Muhammad’s Remember The Show podcast.
In Torres’ last fight before her pregnancy, she lost a split decision to Mackenzie Dern at UFC 273 in April 2022. She has been a mainstay in the strawweight division and had won three straight before the loss to Dern.
Ricci looks to bounce back from just her second UFC loss, a split decision against Loopy Godinez at UFC 295. “Baby Shark” lost her first UFC fight before rebounding with four straight victories.
Also on the May 11 card, Matt Frevola faces lightweight veteran Michael Johnson (first reported by Frevola himself), and Jake Hadley and Charles Johnson meet in a flyweight contest (first reported by MMA Orbit).
Frevola (11-4-1) was riding a streak of three straight first-round knockouts before running into Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 295, where he saw the tables turned on him as he was handed a KO defeat in just 91 seconds. He won’t have much support in the arena when he faces Johnson (22-19), a St. Louis native competing in his hometown for the first time since 2018.
Hadley (10-2) and Johnson (14-6) fight to stay in the mix at 125 pounds. Hadley is 2-2 coming off of a loss to Cody Durden, while Johnson recently snapped a three-fight losing streak with an upset decision win over the previously unbeaten Azat Maksum.
Eduarda Moura vs. Denise Gomes
Undefeated strawweight Eduarda Moura fights fellow Brazilian Denise Gomes at a Fight Night event on June 8, with a location still to be determined.
The bout was first reported by Eurosport.
Moura, a 2023 Contender Series signing, impressed in her UFC debut, taking Montserrat Conejo out in the second round via strikes at UFC Sao Paulo this past November. She is 10-0 in her pro career with just one of her fights going to the scorecards.
Gomes (8-3) also has a reputation as a finisher with six of her wins coming via way of KO/TKO. That includes her two UFC victories against Yazmin Jauregui and Bruna Brasil, which are sandwiched between decision losses to Angela Hill and Loma Lookboonmee.
UFC Vegas 90
With the April 6 Fight Night just around the corner, here is the updated lineup for UFC Vegas 90, which saw a shakeup at the top of the card.
Brendan Allen (23-5) was originally scheduled to fight Marvin Vettori in the middleweight main event, but with Vettori forced to withdraw due to undisclosed reasons, Chris Curtis (31-10, 1 NC) has stepped in on short-notice to set up a rematch. Curtis defeated Allen via second-round TKO when they first fought in December 2021.
Currently, the co-main event is set to feature former UFC featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie (10-4) facing Norma Dumont (10-2) in a 135-pound bout. De Randamie gave birth to a child this past March and competes for the first time since October 2020.
In her most recent outing, “The Iron Lady” submitted Julianna Peña via guillotine choke in the third round. She has won eight of her past 10 fights, with her only losses coming at the hands of Amanda Nunes.
Dumont has won six of seven, but has yet to prove that she can successfully hit the bantamweight limit on the scales. She has regularly competed at featherweight, and in her one fight scheduled for 135 pounds, she missed the mark by 3.5 pounds.
See the updated UFC Vegas 90 card below (bout order still to be finalized):
Brendan Allen vs. Chris Curtis
Germaine de Randamie vs. Norma Dumont
Trevor Peek vs. Charlie Campbell
Alexander Hernandez vs. Damon Jackson
Piera Rodriguez vs. Cynthia Calvillo
Valter Walker vs. Lukasz Brzeski
Dan Argueta vs. Jean Matsumoto
Nora Cornolle vs. Melissa Dixon