Early career Taiga made his professional debut against Ryota at Krush-EX 2012 vol.6, winning by a third-round TKO. He won his next three fights by unanimous decision, before participating in the Krush Youth Super Bantamweight Grand Prix. He won the tournament with a split decision against
Namito Izawa in the semifinals and a unanimous decision against Ryuji Horio in the finals. After an extra round decision win against Yuya Suzuki at Krush.41, Taiga won the
Krush Super Bantamweight title with a unanimous decision victory over
Shota Takiya.
K-1 Early K-1 career Taiga made his K-1 debut against
Takeru Segawa at the
K-1 World GP 2014 -65kg Championship Tournament event. Taiga lost the fight by a spinning backfist knockout. It was both the first loss and the first knockout loss of his career. Immediately following this loss, Taiga was scheduled to take part in the
K-1 Super Bantamweight Grand Prix, to crown the inaugural champion. He defeated Soufiane El Haji by unanimous decision in the quarterfinals and
Nobuchika Terado by a third-round knockout in the semifinals. In a rematch with
Takeru Segawa in the tournament finals, Taiga once again came up short, losing by unanimous decision. At
K-1 World GP 2015 The Championship, Taiga fought the future Krush Super Featherweight champion
Leona Pettas. Pettas won the fight by a majority decision. Returning to Krush, Taiga bounced back from this losing skid with a second-round knockout of Taishi Hiratsuka.
K-1 Super Featherweight tournament Taiga took part in the
K-1 World GP 2016 -60kg Japan Tournament. He scored a first-round flying knee knockout of
Masahiro Yamamoto in the quarterfinals, and a first-round left-hook knockout of Toshi in the semifinals. Taiga won the tournament with a unanimous decision win against
Koya Urabe. Winning this tournament earned him a place in the
K-1 World GP 2016 -60kg Japan Tournament. He won his quarterfinal bout against
Javier Hernández by TKO, after his opponent retired at the end of the second round. He beat
Hirotaka Urabe by unanimous decision in the semifinals. Taiga fought a rematch with
Koya Urabe in the tournament finals, and lost by TKO, after being knocked down three times inside of the first 90 seconds.
K-1 title reign After beating Chen Wende at the
Wu Lin Feng 2016: WLF x Krush - China vs Japan event, Taiga was given the chance to challenge
Hirotaka Urabe for the K-1 Super Featherweight title. He beat Urabe by unanimous decision. Four months after winning the title, Taiga was scheduled to fight
Koji in a non-title bout. He won the fight by unanimous decision. In his last fight with the promotion, Taiga was scheduled to fight
Stavros Exakoustidis. Exakoustidis won the fight by a first-round knockout. Moving away from
K-1, Taiga participated in the
Kunlun Fight 74 61.5kg Tournament, being scheduled to fight
Lin Qiangbang in the quarterfinals. Qiangbang won the fight by majority decision.
RIZIN Taiga made his promotional debut with RIZIN against
Kento Haraguchi at
Rizin 13. The fight ended in a draw. Taiga would lose his next two fights to Zhu Xu at Emei Legend 36 by majority decision, and to
Saeksan Or. Kwanmuang at Rise by unanimous decision. Kawabe was scheduled to fight Thalisson Gomes Ferreira at
Rizin 15. Taiga once again lost, after being knocked down three times inside of the second round. His third appearance for RIZIN was at
Rizin 17, when he was scheduled to fight Hikaru Machida. Taiga managed to beat Machida by unanimous decision. After his first victory in over two years, Taiga was scheduled to fight the former
RISE Lightweight champion
Taiju Shiratori at
Rizin 19. Shiratori won the fight by unanimous decision. The two of them fought an immediate rematch at
Rizin 20. Shiratori once again won, this time by TKO, as Taiga was unable to continue after the second round due to a cut. Taiga was next scheduled to fight the reigning
RISE Lightweight champion
Kento Haraguchi at
Rizin 23. Taiga lost the fight by a first-round knockout. Following these three losses, Taiga was scheduled to fight Yuma Yamahata at
Rizin 25. He snapped the second losing streak of his career with a unanimous decision victory over Yamahata. Taiga was next scheduled to fight Kanta Motoyama at
Rizin 27. He dominated throughout the three rounds and won a unanimous decision.
RISE Taiga was scheduled to fight
Kan Nakamura at RISE WORLD SERIES 2021 on July 18, 2021. He lost the fight by majority decision. Taiga was scheduled to face
Genji Umeno at RISE World Series 2021 Osaka 2 on November 14, 2021. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Taiga was booked to face Ryo Takahashi at
Rizin 34 – Osaka on March 20, 2022. The bout was ruled a majority decision draw. Taiga faced Soichiro Arata at
Rizin 36 – Okinawa on July 2, 2022. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 30–24 in his favor, as he had knocked Arata down in every round of the bout. Taiga faced Shota Okudeira in a super featherweight (-60 kg) bout at RISE World Series 2022 on October 15, 2022. The fight was ruled a split decision draw after the first three rounds, with one scorecard of 30–28 for Okudeira and one scorecard of 30–29 for Taiga, while the third judge had it as an even 30–30 draw. Taiga was awarded a unanimous decision following an extra fourth round. Taiga was expected to face Kazuma at
RISE EL DORADO 2023 on March 26, 2023. The fight was cancelled following the official weigh-ins, due to Taiga's poor physical condition. Taiga faced Fares Oumahamed at MTGP Impact in Paris on June 24, 2023. Oumahamed later withdrew with an injury and was replaced by Paul Karpowicz. Taiga won the fight by a third-round knockout. Taiga faced the one-time
RISE Super Featherweight title challenger
Hyuma Hitachi at
RISE World Series 2023 - 2nd Round on August 26, 2023. He won the fight by unanimous decision, after an extra fourth round was contested. Taiga challenged the
RISE Super Featherweight champion Chan Hyung Lee at
RISE 175 on January 14, 2024. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 50–49, 50–48 and 50–47. Taiga faced
Daniel Puertas at
RISE WORLD SERIES 2024 OSAKA on June 15, 2024. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 30–28, 30–28 and 30–29. Taiga vacated the RISE Super Featherweight title on January 21, 2025, in order to focus on his mixed martial arts career. ==Mixed martial arts career==