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Karl Williams vs. Junior Tafa was canceled because of a bizarre situation where the Tafa brothers switched opponents.
On Saturday, March 23, the UFC will return to the APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, for UFC Vegas 89. In the co-main event, Williams and Justin Tafa look to make a statement in the heavyweight division after an unexpected turn of events led to the short-notice matchup.
Williams was initially scheduled to fight Justin's younger brother, Junior Tafa, at this week's event. Everything changed last month when the older Tafa brother was supposed to fight Marcos Rogerio de Lima on the preliminary portion of UFC 298.
Justin suffered a freak injury during the UFC 298 fight week, forcing him to pull out of the heavyweight matchup. Luckily, Junior was in town to corner his older brother and agreed to step in and fight Rogerio de Lima on less than a week's notice.
Unfortunately for 'The Juggernaut,' he couldn't capitalize on the opportunity as Rogerio de Lima successfully battered his legs. The Brazilian continued inflicting damage until Tafa's legs gave out, leading to a second-round TKO win.
The older Tafa brother looks to avoid a similar fate when he faces Karl Williams later this week.
What's at stake between Karl Williams and Justin Tafa?
Karl Williams made his UFC debut in March 2023 after securing a contract on Dana White's Contender Series. Since then, Williams has arguably exceeded the expectations of fans by establishing a 2-0 promotional record with unanimous decision wins against Lukasz Brzeski and Chase Sherman.
As for Justin Tafa, the 30-year-old heavyweight was somewhat overlooked after starting his UFC tenure with a 1-3 record. He's since bounced back with three consecutive wins (one no-contest) by KO/TKO.
On Saturday night, Williams and Tafa look to potentially set themselves up for a ranked opponent. The UFC heavyweight division isn't overly stacked, so they could climb the rankings quickly with a few more wins.
With that said, the UFC Vegas 89 co-headliners aren't looking past each other. Tafa has the ability to knock out anyone in the division, while Williams is a stylistic nightmare for most opponents because of his grappling skills and cardio.
Watch Tafa's latest win against Austen Lane below:
