UFC on ESPN: Taira vs. Park
| UFC on ESPN: Taira vs. Park | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on ESPN: Taira vs. Park | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | August 2, 2025 | |||
| Venue | UFC Apex | |||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada, United States | |||
| Attendance | Not announced[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on ESPN: Taira vs. Park (also known as UFC on ESPN 71 and UFC Vegas 108) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 2, 2025, at the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Valley, United States.[2]
Background
A flyweight bout between Amir Albazi and Tatsuro Taira was scheduled to headline this event.[3] However, one week before the event, Albazi withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Road to UFC Season 1 flyweight winner Park Hyun-sung, who was originally scheduled to compete a week later against former UFC Flyweight Championship challenger Steve Erceg.[4][5]
A flyweight bout between former LFA Flyweight Champion Felipe Bunes and André Lima was scheduled for this event.[6] However, Lima withdrew from the fight due to an undisclosed injury and was replaced by Rafael Estevam.[7][5]
A middleweight bout between Torrez Finney and former LFA Middleweight Champion Azamat Bekoev was scheduled for this event.[8] However, Finney withdrew from the fight due to an injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Yousri Belgaroui.[9] In turn, the bout was scrapped and postponed to October 18 at UFC Fight Night 262 as Belgaroui was unable to get a visa in time.[10][5]
A welterweight bout between Neil Magny and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos took place at this event.[11] They were originally reportedly scheduled to face each other in May 2019, at UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Lee, but the matchup did not materialize as Zaleski dos Santos announced that he had not been contacted by the UFC about it.[12][13]
A featherweight bout between Austin Bashi and Francis Marshall was scheduled for this event.[14] However, Marshall had to withdraw due to an injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer John Yannis.[5][15]
A lightweight bout between Grant Dawson and Joel Álvarez was reportedly scheduled for this event.[16] However, for unknown reasons, the bout was not formally announced.[5]
At the weigh-ins, two fighters missed weight:[17]
- Tresean Gore weighed in at 189.5 pounds, three and a half pounds over the middleweight non-title fight limit.
- Rafael Estevam weighed in at 130 pounds, four pounds over the flyweight non-title fight limit.
Gore and Estevam's bouts proceeded at catchweight. Both fighters were fined 25 percent of their individual purses which went to their opponents Rodolfo Vieira and Felipe Bunes, respectively.[17]
Results
| Main card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Flyweight | Tatsuro Taira | def. | Park Hyun-sung | Submission (face crank) | 2 | 1:06 | |
| Lightweight | Chris Duncan | def. | Mateusz Rębecki | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Esteban Ribovics | def. | Elves Brener | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Bantamweight | Karol Rosa | def. | Nora Cornolle | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–27, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Neil Magny | def. | Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos | TKO (punches) | 2 | 4:39 | |
| Featherweight | Kevin Vallejos | def. | Danny Silva | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | Rinya Nakamura | def. | Nathan Fletcher | TKO (body kick and punches) | 1 | 1:02 | |
| Catchweight (189.5 lb) | Rodolfo Vieira | def. | Tresean Gore | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Andrey Pulyaev | def. | Nick Klein | TKO (body kick and punches) | 2 | 1:31 | |
| Featherweight | Austin Bashi | def. | John Yannis | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 3:39 | |
| Catchweight (130 lb) | Rafael Estevam | def. | Felipe Bunes | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Piera Rodríguez | def. | Ketlen Souza | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Bonus awards
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[19]
- Fight of the Night: Chris Duncan vs. Mateusz Rębecki and Esteban Ribovics vs. Elves Brener
- Performance of the Night: No bonus awarded.
See also
References
- ^ Mike Bohn (2025-08-03). "UFC on ESPN 71 post-event facts: Neil Magny takes big jump up all-time wins list". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
- ^ Nolan King (2025-05-14). "UFC books Amir Albazi vs. Tatsuro Taira main event". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
- ^ Nick Baldwin (2025-05-14). "Albazi, Taira to meet in Aug. 2 UFC main event". thescore.com. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
- ^ Nolan King (2025-07-28). "New UFC on ESPN 71 main event announced after Amir Albazi injured". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
- ^ a b c d e Staff (2025-07-28). "Taira gets new UFC Fight Night main event opponent with Albazi out". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
- ^ Diego Ribas (2025-05-07). "UFC encaminha combate entre André Mascote e Felipe Bunes para agosto". agfight.com. Retrieved 2025-05-07. (in Brazilian Portuguese)
- ^ Diego Ribas (2025-07-05). "Rafael Macapá substitui André Mascote e encara Felipe Bunes no UFC Vegas 108". agfight.com. Retrieved 2025-07-06. (in Brazilian Portuguese)
- ^ Alexander K. Lee (2025-06-03). "UFC Vegas 108 adds pair of undefeated prospects to lineup". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
- ^ Léo Guimarães (2025-07-21). "Principal parceiro de treinos de Poatan ganha chance no UFC e estreia contra nocauteador dos médios". superlutas.com.br. Retrieved 2025-07-21. (in Brazilian Portuguese)
- ^ Thomas Albano (2025-07-27). "Another UFC Vegas 108 matchup scrapped as Azamat Bekoev announces fight with Yousri Belgaroui is postponed". mmanews.com. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
- ^ Guilherme Cruz (2025-07-09). "Neil Magny, Elizeu Zaleski agree to UFC Vegas 108 fight". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
- ^ Marcel Dorff (2019-03-27). "UFC Rochester gets Co-Main Event between Neil Magny and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos" (in Dutch). mmadnanl.com. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
- ^ Rezende, Lucas (2019-03-28). "Zaleski denies reports of Magny bout at UFC Rochester, Chiesa backs him up". Bloody Elbow. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
- ^ Mathew Riddle (2025-07-22). "Giant kickboxer who shared ring with Adesanya and Pereira set for UFC debut". si.com. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
- ^ Andrew Richardson (2025-07-29). "Snake-bitten UFC Vegas 108 event loses another bout, short-notice newcomer saves the day". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2025-07-29.
- ^ Michał Tkaczuk (2025-06-05). "Grant Dawson kontra Joel Alvarez na UFC on ESPN 71". mmarocks.pl. Retrieved 2025-06-05. (in Polish)
- ^ a b Staff (2025-08-01). "UFC on ESPN 71 weigh-in results: Two miss marks, including four-pound botch". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
- ^ "UFC on ESPN: Taira vs. Park". Ultimate Fighting Championship. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
- ^ Dan Hiergesell (2025-08-03). "Bonuses! Duncan vs. Rebecki, Ribovics vs. Brener both earn Fight of the Night awards - UFC Vegas 108". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
