Regina “Kill Bill” Tarin
Fighting at 125 (flyweight)
Standing at five-foot-seven
Born in Distrito Federal, Mexico
21-years-old
7-0 (4 KO/TKOs, 2 Submissions)
It was only a matter of time until Regina Tarin was officially in the UFC. She was supposed to fight on last season’s Contender Series, but contract issues held it up. Since then, she’s been sharpening her craft in Mexico at the Performance Institute, keeping her name fresh with UFC personnel.
Tarin has only been a pro for a little over two years. You can still see some immaturity in the cage, but for her age, she’s clearly ahead of schedule. To me, she really turned the corner last year when she battered Kaytlin Neil. As she’s grown more comfortable, she’s started putting everything together better.
Tarin spends most of her time working in close quarters. Very little of her game is built around long-range striking. When she does strike at distance, it’s her kickboxing that stands out. She’s a layered, multi-level kicker who attacks the inside and outside leg while mixing in rear roundhouses and the occasional hook kick to keep opponents guessing. Her hands show best in a tight boxing range. She throws a solid one-two, but it’s really the swarming volume that stands out.
A lot of her best work comes from the clinch. She applies strong head pressure, mixes in dirty boxing, and looks to secure takedowns. She’s not a textbook wrestler by any means, but she uses trips extremely well—inside trips, outside trips, body-lock trips, and knee taps. She does a good job using her size and power to put opponents on the mat. Once she’s on top and settled, she’s always hunting the finish. She doesn’t hesitate to pour on ground-and-pound, and if the neck or an arm is there, she’ll attack it.
At just 21 with limited experience, she’s obviously far from a complete fighter. More than anything, I worry about her striking defense. I don’t question the Mexican chin—I question the head movement. Her shoulders can get squared, and when she’s backing up, her hands and posture get lazy. That said, I think she can mask some of those flaws with the pressure she brings. “Kill Bill” has finished all but one opponent, and even in that fight, she nearly had multiple finishes. She’s looked like a wrecking force so far, but the question is how much of that is skill and how much is the level of competition. At flyweight, I’d confidently pick her to beat eleven of the twenty-eight on the roster right now. That might not sound great, but she has serious upside to become a future top-15 fighter at the very least.
Ernesta Kareckaite gets a tougher opponent in Tarin than her original foe, but this is easily the toughest fight of Tarin’s career. I was a big critic of Kareckaite going into her Contender Series fight, though she has grown since then. Still, I have more concerns than positives. She lacks power, can be gun-shy, and her takedown defense isn’t great.
She tends to build as the fight goes on and gain momentum, but that can be shut down in an instant. Even with her length, she’s more effective when her opponent brings the fight to her—and that’s exactly what Tarin is going to do.
On the feet, Tarin has a stronger physical presence. She’s more aggressive, more active, and hits harder. I don’t see her completely out-wrestling Kareckaite, but I do think she can mix in takedowns and land ground-and-pound. I’ve got Tarin in what I expect to be an entertaining scrap. I look for her to win off pressure, cage control, and do more damage.