Injuries and multiple cancelled bookings have limited Kleydson Rodrigues to just two outings in the Ultimate Fighting Championship since he appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021. The blue-chip Brazilian prospect desires more consistency moving forward.
“I’m training with great fighters who are also in the UFC,” he told Sherdog.com. “They’re great additions to my preparation.”
Leapfrogging Taira at 125 pounds figures to be a difficult task. The onetime Shooto titleholder managed to hit the ground running in the UFC, having rattled off consecutive victories against Carlos Candelario, the aforementioned Vergara and Jesus Santos Aguilar. Taira, 23, last competed at UFC Fight Night 218, where he submitted Aguilar with a triangle armbar in the first round of their Feb. 4 pairing. It was the eighth first-round finish of his career and moved his record to 13-0.
“I know that he’s tough,” Rodrigues said. “He’s very skilled with a great ground game, but I trust in myself. I have great punching ability and knockout power. I’m confident we’ll have a great battle and that I’ll beat him with better strategy. I’ll cut him off, take him down and punch him out.”
The stakes are undeniably high for Rodrigues.
“My future plans are to first beat Taira and then get a Top 15 opponent,” he said. “Taira is undefeated in the UFC, so beating him will be a great leap in my career.”