In Search of Continuity

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.

Rodrigues will draw his second assignment of 2023 when he meets the undefeated Tatsuro Taira as part of the UFC on ABC 5 undercard this Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The 27-year-old former Jungle Fight champion has won seven of his past eight bouts, a split decision defeat to C.J. Vergara the lone misstep. Rodrigues operates out of the Chute Boxe affiliate fronted by Diego Lima in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

“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.”