Junior Tafa

Junior Tafa (born 21 September 1996) is an Australian mixed martial artist and former professional kickboxer and boxer who currently competes in the Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Background
Junior Tafa is the brother of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight, Justin Tafa. He is of Samoan descent.

Kickboxing career
Tafa participated in the 2018 Glory four man heavyweight tournament, alongside D'Angelo Marshall, Guto Inocente and Benjamin Adegbuyi. Tafa lost his semi-final fight to Inocente, but advanced due to Inocente suffering a cut during their bout. In the finals he met Benjamin Adegbuyi. Adegbuyi focused on landing leg kicks, and won the fight in the second round by TKO, after dropping Tafa three times.

On December 8, 2018, he entered the Glory 62 Heavyweight tournament He lost in the quarter final against Jamal Ben Saddik by TKO second round.

Tafa faced Cihad Kepenek at Glory 65: Utrecht on May 17, 2019. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Early career
Debuting in July 2022, Tafa won his first two bouts on the Australian regional scene, both by TKO stoppages.

Tafa then faced Nicolas Djurdjević on November 26, 2022 at BRAVE CF 66. He won the bout via TKO stoppage two minutes into the bout.

Tafa faced Tsuyoshi Sudario on December 31, 2022 at Rizin 40. He won the fight by TKO via punches in the first round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
In January 2023, it was announced that Tafa had signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He will make his promotional debut against Austen Lane at UFC 284 on February 11, 2023. However, Lane withdrew due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Waldo Cortes-Acosta. In turn, it was announced a few days later that Tafa withdrew due to injury and the bout was scrapped.

Tafa faced Mohammed Usman on April 22, 2023 at UFC Fight Night 222. Tafa lost bout via unanimous decision.

Tafa faced Parker Porter on August 26, 2023, at UFC Fight Night 225. He won the bout via knockout in the first round. This win which earned him a Performance of the Night  award.

Tafa, one day's notice, faced Marcos Rogério de Lima, replacing his injured brother Justin Tafa, on February 17, 2024, at UFC 298. He lost the bout by technical knockout in round two.

Tafa was scheduled to face Karl Williams on March 23, 2024, at UFC on ESPN 53. However, Tafa was pulled from the event due to injury and he was replaced by his brother Justin Tafa.

Tafa is scheduled to face Valter Walker on August 17, 2024 at UFC 305.

Kickboxing & Muay Thai record

 * - style="background:#cfc;"
 * 2021-04-24
 * Win
 * style="text-align:left;"|🇦🇺 Christian Balz
 * Eruption Muay Thai 20
 * Brisbane, Australia|
 * KO (Right cross)
 * align=center|1
 * align=center|0:55


 * - style="background:#cfc;"
 * 2020-12-11
 * Win
 * style="text-align:left;"|🇦🇺 Callum Godfrey
 * Eruption Muay Thai 2019
 * Brisbane, Australia
 * KO (Right hook)
 * 1
 * 0:24


 * - style="background:#fcc;"
 * 2019-05-17
 * Loss
 * style="text-align:left;"|🇹🇷 Cihad Kepenek
 * Glory 65: Utrecht
 * Utrecht, Netherlands
 * Decision (Unanimous)
 * 3
 * 3:00


 * - style="background:#fcc;"
 * 2018-12-18
 * Loss
 * style="text-align:left;"|🇲🇦 Jamal Ben Saddik
 * Glory 62: Rotterdam, Heavyweight Tournament Quarter-Finals
 * Rotterdam, Netherlands
 * TKO (2 Knockdowns)
 * 1
 * 2:55


 * - style="background:#cfc;"
 * 2018-09-14
 * Win
 * style="text-align:left;"|🇺🇸 Haze Wilson
 * Glory 58: Chicago
 * Chicago, Illinois, United States
 * TKO (Referee stoppage)
 * 1
 * 1:35


 * - style="background:#cfc;"
 * 2018-07-20
 * Win
 * style="text-align:left;"|🇺🇸 Anthony McDonald
 * Glory 55: New York
 * New York City, United States
 * TKO (3 Knockdowns)
 * 1
 * 2:20


 * - style="background:#fcc;"
 * 2018-02-16
 * Loss
 * style="text-align:left;"|🇷🇴 Benjamin Adegbuyi
 * Glory 50: Chicago, Heavyweight Contender Tournament Final
 * Chicago, Illinois, United States
 * TKO (leg kicks)
 * 2
 * 0:31


 * - style="background:#fcc;"
 * 2018-02-16
 * Loss
 * style="text-align:left;"|🇧🇷 Guto Inocente
 * Glory 50: Chicago, Heavyweight Contender Tournament Semi-final
 * Chicago, Illinois, United States
 * Decision (unanimous)
 * 3
 * 3:00


 * - style="background:#cfc;"
 * 2017-10-14
 * Win
 * style="text-align:left;"|🇨🇳 Quanchao Luo
 * Glory 46: China
 * Guangzhou, China
 * TKO (three knockdowns)
 * 1
 * 1:34


 * - style="background:#cfc;"
 * 2016-08-22
 * Win
 * style="text-align:left;"|🇦🇺
 * Kings of Kombat 18
 * Melbourne, Australia
 * KO
 * 1
 * 0:25


 * - style="background:#cfc;"
 * 2015-12-05
 * Win
 * style="text-align:left;"|🇦🇺 Jacob Francis
 * Caged Muay Thai 7
 * Brisbane, Australia
 * KO (Right cross)
 * 1
 * 1:40


 * - style="background:#cfc;"
 * 2014-12-06
 * Win
 * style="text-align:left;"|🇦🇺 Aaron Cannings
 * Caged Muay Thai 5
 * Brisbane, Australia
 * TKO (punches)
 * 3
 * 0:13
 * colspan=9 | Legend:
 * colspan=9 | Legend: