Oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) are one of the most ubiquitous malignancies the world over, and are accompanied by a high mortality. microRNAs (miRNAs) have increasingly garnered attention with regards to the roles they play in initiation and progression of various kinds of cancers, including OSCC. It has been reported, that miR-23a-3p promotes the development of tumors for prostate cancer, gastric cancer and gliomas. The functions of miR-23a-3p in OSCC however, remain unclear. In this study, fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) is revealed as a direct target of miR-23a-3p, based on luciferase assays and immunoblotting. The expression of miR-23a-3p and FGF2 were found to be significantly downregulated and upregulated in OSCC tissues respectively. This indicates a reverse correlation between miR-23a-3p and FGF2 levels. Using in vitro approaches we ascertained that miR-23a-3p might contribute to the inhibition of growth and inhibition through increasing apoptosis in OSCC cells; while an inhibitor of miR-23a-3p could reverse this effect. Examination of a clinical cohort of OSCC patients suggested that reduced expression of miR-23a-3p is correlated with more advanced cancerous stage and poorer differentiation of OSCC cell. Additionally, a survival analysis and the Cox-hazard regression model showed that higher levels of miR-23a-3p can be used reliably for prognosis of OSCC patients. This study indicates that miR-23a-3p might suppress tumor proliferation, invasion and promote apoptosis of OSCC by targeting FGF2. miR-23a-3p has the potential to be used as prognostic indicator, and could be exploited as a therapeutic reagent for OSCC in the future.