Australia’s cult UFC heavyweight Justin Tafa has been catapulted onto what could now be dubbed ‘Octoberfest’ for fight fans – with the month set to prove huge for some of the country’s biggest combat athletes.
Fox Sports Australia can reveal 30-year-old Tafa has this week signed to throw down against Kennedy Nzechukwu – aka ‘The African Savage’ – at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi on October 27.
Already, the blockbuster Middle Eastern event has direct title implications for both Robert Whittaker and Alexander Volkanovski, while Australia’s Tim Tszyu and Jai Opetaia also have championship bouts in the same month.
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While Opetaia opens the month defending his IBF cruiserweight title in the Middle East, Tszyu will throw down in the US just seven days before UFC 308, taking on undefeated IBF super welterweight champ Bakhram Murtazaliev.
At UFC 308 meanwhile, Tafa joins an already stacked card that, in the co-main, sees Whittaker fighting a middleweight title eliminator against undefeated star Khamzat Chimaev.
In the main event too, UFC featherweight king Ilia Topuria defends against Max Holloway – with the winner then set to face former champ Volkanovski, who is expected to be sat front row for the Yas Island showcase.
For Tafa, the shock inclusion comes seven months after being sensationally withdrawn from UFC 298 – and replaced by younger brother Junior – after seriously injuring his knee in a fight week grappling session.
Ironically, the heavyweight was working out on the mats with his younger sibling when he heard the “pop” that would eventually see Junior step up on weigh in day as his replacement.
While little brother would lose against Marcos Rogerio de Lima, it undeniably proved the family’s fighting spirit – and explains why the slugger dubbed ‘Bad Man’ is now returning earlier than expected from surgery.
Only a month after the shock withdrawal, Tafa faced Karl Williams on a UFC Apex card in Las Vegas, losing the bout by unanimous decision.
In the time since, Tafa revealed he has undergone a major operation that, in one day, had surgeons not only repairing the meniscus in knee, but also reattaching a bicep and completing work on his shoulder.
While the Queenslander had not planned to fight again this year – and was instead looking ahead to a proposed UFC Sydney card next February – he now finds himself catapulted onto one of the biggest cards of 2024.
Asked about his surprise addition to the Abu Dhabi showcase, Tafa told Fox Sports Australia this week: “I only got the call up last weekend.
“I wasn’t planning on fighting this year, thought I’d just keep recovering from my surgeries and look towards that proposed Sydney card in February.
“But this is what you do when you’re called.
“The Tafas don’t say ‘no’ …”
The heavyweight also said he was also excited to be fighting on such a big UFC card – and with so many implications for the Aussie fight landscape — given three of his previous six fights have been at the UFC Apex, which tops out at around 500 spectators.
“So you know this fight week will have a different feel,” he grinned.
“Fighting at the UFC Apex, it’s like a big vacuum has come in and sucked all the energy from the room.
“Dead.
“(Laughs) Conor McGregor could fight at the Apex and, man, it’s still an Apex card.
“It’s something I hope I never have to do again.”
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Tafa added the card was already a huge one for fans Down Under given the title implications involving Whittaker, and the fact the main event’s winner could be fighting Volkanovski four months later in Sydney.
“The Sydney card could end up being Volkanovski versus, say, Holloway, plus Whittaker and Dricus du Plessis,” he said.
“That’s a real possibility.
“And just the main event itself, you’ve got two guys coming off really good wins, great stoppages.
“For a while it looked like Holloway might be done given the results he’d had against Volk.
“But he’s proved you can never count him out.
“And then you’ve got Ilia Topuria … it’s a fight I’m keen to watch live.”
Importantly, Tafa said he was also aware of the challenge presented by Nzechukwu, who despite being on a two-fight skid has twice previously gone on runs of three straight wins – which included a ‘Fight of the Night’ KO win against New Zealand’s Carlos Ulberg in 2021.
“First was the time I’d seen him, against Carlos,” Tafa recounts.
“And I actually thought he was a bit lucky in that one.
“Carlos had him rocked early, went in for the kill, but then dumped all his energy.
“So it didn’t pay off.
“But we know (Nzechukwu) a guy who likes to punch on.
“So I feel, matched with my style, it makes for a good fight.”
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