Fight Coverage
Fighters on the Rise | UFC Fight Night: Taira vs Park
Highlighting Three Ascending Talents Slated To Make The Walk This Weekend In Las Vegas
Events like this weekend’s return to the UFC APEX offer a great opportunity to take a deeper dive into some of the up-and-coming talents on the roster.
Where pay-per-view cards tend to spotlight championship pairings, critical divisional clashes, and more established names, Saturday’s slate is rich with newcomers and prospects — first and second-year fighters still looking to truly establish themselves and start moving forward in their respective divisions.
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As always, Fighters on the Rise is here to spotlight three such athletes poised to make the trek into the Octagon this weekend.
Let’s get to it!
Kevin Vallejos
Vallejos is one of the most intriguing young talents to touch down in the UFC in some time — a 23-year-old Argentine with a solid amount of experience and heaps of promise, with ample time and opportunity to continue refining his skills and growing as a fighter.
He made his first of two appearances on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023, landing on the wrong side of a unanimous decision verdict in a clash with Jean Silva. The first and only loss of his career to date, the fact that Vallejos went the distance with the streaking Fighting Nerds representative has continued to age well and made him a must-see attraction when he returned to the APEX last season.
After earning two more successful defenses of his Samurai Fight House featherweight title, “El Chino” made his second DWCS start last September, blowing through Cam Teague in half a round to secure his place on the roster. As a follow-up, he turned in a similar effort against South Korean veteran SeungWoo Choi in his promotional debut earlier this year to advance to 14-1 overall.
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This weekend, Vallejos steps in with fellow DWCS grad Danny Silva, who has earned split decision wins over Josh Culibao and Lucas Almeida to begin his UFC tenure. Tall and lanky for the division, the Bloodline Combat Sports representative has registered four straight wins and victories in 10 of 11 to begin his pro career.
A win over Silva would be another early statement win for Vallejos, who feels like someone that could make an expedited rise up the divisional ranks, but would likely be better served being brought along slowly. He’s undeniably talented and has bushels of promise, but top-end experience is without question the best teacher, and the more time he can accrue inside the Octagon before getting thrust into the deep end of the division the better.
Chances are he’ll get there eventually, and with the depth that already exists in the featherweight ranks, there is no need to hustle things at this point.
Rafael Estevam
The only thing that has kept Estevam from earning more attention at the moment is the fact that he’s made just two appearances inside the Octagon since earning a contract on Season 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series.
Unbeaten in 13 starts, the 28-year-old Nova Uniao product earned a unanimous decision win over Charles Johnson in his promotional debut towards the end of 2023, though he missed weight for the contest. He then missed the entirety of 2024 before returning earlier this year to register another decision victory, getting the better of Jesus Aguilar in February.
Like so many of his teammates, Estevam is a strong grappler who does his best work on the canvas, though he’s equally content to finish with strikes or submissions. If there is a knock on the unbeaten flyweight at this point, it would be his propensity to fade as the fight progresses, as he’s dropped the third round on all three scorecards in each of his first two UFC appearances.
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Saturday evening, Estevam faces off with compatriot Felipe Bunes, who rebounded from his debut loss to current No. 1 contender Joshua Van with a first-round submission win over Jose Johnson on the opening card of the year. The 35-year-old, who reps the Pitbull Brothers, was originally scheduled to face off with another talented Brazilian, Andre Lima, and now gets the opportunity to perhaps be the first man to defeat Estevam.
It’ll be interesting to see how the undefeated prospect handles this short notice assignment, and how stepping in to replace Lima impacts him come fight night. He has the talent to climb the competitive flyweight ranks, and if he can navigate this weekend’s contest successfully, Estevam should get an opportunity to take a step forward and face an established name the next time out.
HyunSung Park
Returning a week earlier than originally planned and vaulted into a main event assignment, Park gets an even greater opportunity to show why he is someone to keep close tabs on in the flyweight division this weekend as he steps in opposite Tatsuro Taira.
The 29-year-old from South Korea announced his presence by winning the flyweight competition on the initial season of Road to UFC, posting first-round finishes in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds before rallying to submit fellow Korean SeungGuk Choi in the third round to claim the tournament victory. Since then, "Peace of Mind" has added two additional stoppage wins to his resume, beating Shannon Ross in the second and Carlos Hernandez in the third to begin his UFC tenure and advance his record to 10-0 overall.
Park is the perfect example of an emerging fighter beginning to gain traction on the biggest stage in the sport: he's a little older, but still very much in his prime, and faced solid competition on his way to this point, all while possessing a well-rounded skill set that makes him dangerous in every phase, a quality gas tank, and the ability to create and capitalize on finishing opportunities. He's earned stoppages in each of his last nine wins, and has the ability to get to his spots in various different ways.
Originally scheduled to compete next weekend against former title challenger Steve Erceg, Park gets bumped up to the main event here, replacing Amir Albazi opposite Taira. The Japanese standout is coming off his first career loss — a unanimous decision defeat to Brandon Royval last October in a competitive and entertaining clash — and will be looking to immediately steady himself in the talent-rich flyweight ranks.
We often talk about opportunities like this being a win-win situation for the athlete suddenly hustled into the greater opportunity, and that is very much the case here for Park. This is a chance to test himself against a Top 10 fighter that everyone is high on in a situation where expectations are reduced because of the short-notice nature of the bout. No matter how the bout plays out, this is Park's chance to show he can hang with the best in the 125-pound weight class, and if he's able to take full advantage of his impromptu main event assignment, he'll launch himself into the Top 10 and set himself up for even greater opportunities in the future.
UFC Fight Night: Taira vs Park took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 2, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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