From NRL prospect to UFC hope
Advice from legend Mark Hunt has NZ heavyweight ready to put his false UFC start behind him tomorrow. Marvin France reports.
All was going well for Justin Tafa prior to his UFC debut last October. Called up to the global mixed martial arts promotion after just three pro bouts – all won inside the distance – Tafa made his first walk to the octagon in front of almost 60,000 people at UFC 243 in Melbourne, including his closest friends and family.
The script could not have been written any better for the 26-yearold Australian-based Kiwi heavyweight. Then the fight happened.
‘‘I felt good walking out and I was touching him up,’’ Tafa told Stuff. ‘‘Then I just got too eager and fired away but I fired a bit poorly and paid the price.’’
Tafa (3-1) was knocked out at 2:10 of the first round against Yorgan De Castro but he has not had to wait long to return to the big stage.
Tomorrow (NZ time), ‘‘Bad Man’’ takes on Juan Adams (5-2) on the main card of UFC 247 in Houston, headlined by pound-forpound king Jon Jones’ lightheavyweight title showdown with Dominick Reyes.
Tafa knows where he went wrong against De Castro. Besides, it only takes one punch to completely change the course of a fight – and never is that more true than in the heavyweight ranks.
As he prepared to make amends this weekend, a heart-toheart with mentor, combat sports legend Mark Hunt, ensured there
were no mental scars lingering from his false start.
‘‘Mark reckons at least the worst happened first and if you can get over that, it will be all good,’’ Tafa said.
‘‘I don’t regret going in for the kill, just that I should have executed better. I looked at it and I started half-a-step too early, I wound up a bit too much. I knew if I had executed better, the result would have been different.’’
Tafa is following in the footsteps of Hunt as he looks to become the next Kiwi heavyweight to stamp his mark on the UFC. Like Hunt, he is a hardhitting striker of Samoan descent.
While he may live across the Tasman, as Tafa puts it, he is an ‘‘Avondale boy, from west Auckland’’ and immensely proud of his roots. ‘‘I always want to represent Auckland, especially Avondale.
‘‘And I fly the flag of Samoa because we are a minority and I want to be an inspiration for the young people of my culture.’’
Tafa initially thought his sporting future lay in rugby league. Indeed, had things turned out differently, he may well have been competing in the NRL instead of the UFC. Growing up he stood out at Marist Saints, the junior club of Sonny Bill Williams, where he played alongside Warriors winger David Fusitu’a and Newcastle halfback Mason Lino.
He was signed by the Melbourne Storm and played in the under-20s competition but a run of injuries left him disillusioned with the sport.
‘‘I lost the passion for footy and I just walked into a gym and picked up fighting.’’
That was in 2014 and, compared with many of his UFC rivals, Tafa is relatively new to the fight game, particularly in MMA, having only had his first bout in 2017. But he comes from a family of fighters. Tafa’s grandfather was a national boxing champion while his three bothers have also fought professionally, with Junior Tafa a top-10 ranked heavyweight in leading kickboxing promotion Glory.
So it is perhaps not that surprising that Tafa has progressed so quickly.
In Houston, Tafa is up against a hometown hero in Adams, who is looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats.
The American has a strong wrestling background and holds a 12-centimetre height advantage.
But Tafa has been honing his skills with renowned wrestling coaches Frank and George Hickman, and fine-tuned preparations at the famed City Kickboxing gym in Auckland after beginning his camp at Tiger Muay Thai in Thailand.
‘‘You go there once and you fully understand why they are the best gym in the world,’’ he said of City Kickboxing. ‘‘They have got a good culture led by a good team, good trainers that are very experienced in the fight game.’’
UFC 243 set the record for the largest crowd in the promotion’s history and, appearing in the last bout before the co-main event, tomorrow’s fight is another huge moment for Tafa.
Yet with the benefit of his Melbourne experience, regardless of the result, he is unfazed by the occasion and ready to show why he belongs at this level.
‘‘There was probably more staff working at [UFC 243] than there was in the crowd at my last fight,’’ he joked.
‘‘The biggest thing about that last event was that it was so close to home and I had a lot of family and friends fly over.
‘‘It was a different kind of feeling to what it is now and all that pressure is away.’’
UFC 247: Jones vs Reyes (featuring Justin Tafa vs Juan Adams)