In the end, UFC 328’s co-main event upstaged the night’s headliner.
Joshua Van entered UFC 328 as the promotion’s flyweight champion, with a whole host of questions surrounding his legitimacy. That’s what happens when you win the title off of an injury, as Van did against Alexandre Pantoja late last year. Against Tatsuro Taira, however, there was no such injury, and while some including Taira may feel the fight ended early, there wasn’t too much controversy on Saturday.
Taira started strong, using his wrestling until Van erupted and knocked the Japanese challenger down. Taira suddenly found himself under fire but miraculously recovered and even managed to land some takedowns later in the same round. Then, in the fifth, Van dug the body and eventually landed enough punches for the ref to come in and wave off the fight, though Taira would protest.
The bout earned Fight of the Night honors on Saturday, UFC CEO and Dana White told media outlets including Cageside Press after the fight. A better fight than Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland, a decent bout that was perhaps overhyped in the build-up.
Performance of the Night bonuses, meanwhile, went to 42-year old Jim Miller, and former Bellator welterweight champ Yaroslav Amosov. Miller snatched the neck of Jared Gordon, locking up a guillotine choke inside of a round. Amosov for his part submitted Joel Alvarez.
All four bonuses winners collect $100,000 U.S., while the night’s other finishers earn $25,000. Those include King Green, Ateba Gautier, Grant Dawson, and Baisangur Susurkaev. Attendence at UFC 328 was 17,783 for a gate of $7.5 million U.S., breaking the UFC’s own record for gate at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
