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Justin Tafa Aims To Crack Top Of Division With A Win Over De Lima
Rising Heavyweight Eager To Stack Another Win Saturday At UFC 298
Justin Tafa, who fights Marcos Rogerio de Lima this Saturday at UFC 298: Volkanovski vs Topuria, felt he had to set the record straight in his last fight.
Tafa carried a chip on his shoulder into his September 2023 rematch against Austen Lane, after their first bout ended in a no contest following an accidental eye poke from Lane. It was not the poke that bothered Tafa so much, he says, but rather the aftermath online.
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“A lot of people had a lot to say (after the first fight), thinking I found a way out, especially his coaches saying I was on my way out anyway. I had to re-assure them they were wrong,” said Tafa. “They were on social media, saying I was too slow, I was getting beat up and I found a way out with the eye poke.”
Justin Tafa Lands Huge Head Kick Knockout | UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Daukaus
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Justin Tafa Lands Huge Head Kick Knockout | UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Daukaus
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Tafa, a New Zealand-born fighter of Samoan descent who now calls Australia home, won his rematch against Lane via first-round knockout. The victory was made sweeter by the fact it occurred in front of his home crowd in Sydney, Australia. Tafa followed that up with another homecoming: a trip to Samoa, complete with a meeting with that country’s prime minister.
Despite a population of less than 250,000 on some estimates, fighters of Samoan descent are well represented inside the UFC’s Octagon, including Tafa, his brother Junior Tafa, Tai Tuivasa and Tyson Pedro, to name but a few. According to Tafa, though, the country itself has yet to fully catch the mixed martial arts bug.
“It’s still quite new; boxing is probably the main combat sport in Samoa. Some of them were thinking UFC was like WWE (laughs) but the potential there is endless,” said Tafa. “There’s a lot of great Samoan fighters in the UFC right now and once the locals get a handle on the ground game and how MMA works, I think they will flourish.”
The knockout win over Lane brought Tafa’s record in the UFC’s Octagon to 4-3 (1 NC), with all of his victories coming by first-round knockout.
Such was the hype around Tafa’s knockout prowess in his early career that he made his UFC debut in just his fourth professional fight at UFC 243 in October 2019. It was a worst-case scenario debut for Tafa after he lost to Yorgan De Castro via first-round knockout.
More than four years on, and unbeaten in his last four fights, Tafa seems to have put that chapter behind him. He says he has come a long way since his debut.
“I’ve learned everything,” he said. “Fight wise, I feel like I’ve grown heaps with all my skills, and with the professional side of things, conducting myself, I feel like I’ve grown over the years and shown who I am as a fighter and a person.”
Dominick Cruz Breaks Down UFC 298 Main Event
Tafa is aiming to have a big 2024 and is eyeing a ranking in the division’s elite by year’s end.
“(By the end of the year) Hopefully, I will be knocking on the Top 10, definitely Top 15.”
There is no question that Tafa’s knockout power makes him dangerous to anyone at the elite level of the division.
The “Bad Man,” however, is yet to show much of his ground game inside the UFC’s Octagon. Tafa presently leads the UFC in having the least bottom position time: 0:01 seconds or 0.04% of his fight time. It’s an impressive statistic, in part reflecting that the 30-year-old is knocking his opponents out before they get to test his grappling.
While Tafa has not graded in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu since he earned his blue belt around four years ago, he says his ground game has continued to progress, and tells UFC.com his skill level is somewhere between purple and brown belt. Tafa says he may look to take down and submit his opponents in the future.
“I work the grappling probably the most out of all the facets of MMA,” said Tafa. “Seventy percent of my camps are towards the grappling side of things. The striking comes naturally to me; it’s just leveling up the other parts to have an all-around game. It’s just the last few fights I’ve been lucky enough to come out with the early KOs, so I haven’t been able to show it”.
In the number 15-ranked Marcos Rogerio de Lima, Tafa faces an opponent who may put those ground skills to the test. Tafa, however, believes his 38-year-old Brazilian opponent will not shy away from exchanges on the feet.
“I’ve watched a couple of his fights, he’s pretty handy, he’s got some ground game with him and some wrestling, but, all in all, he looks like he likes to throw some haymakers and so do I.”
How To Watch UFC 298: Volkanovski vs Topuria In Your Country
Naturally, Tafa is expecting a win by knockout this Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. He isn’t, however, expecting it to be easy.
“I think I’m going to knock him out. I think it’s going to be a tough battle, but I think I can find his chin and put him away in the second.”
UFC 298: Volkanovski vs Topuria took place live from Honda Center in Anaheim, California on February 17, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
