Who is Junior Tafa? Is he related to heavyweight Justin Tafa?

Justin Tafa recently pulling out of his UFC 317 fight against Jonatha Diniz brought back the memories of Junior Tafa stepping in to replace him in a short-notice fight against Marcos Rogerio de Lima at UFC 298.

'The Juggernaut' suffered the knockout loss but saved the fight card. The reason for him taking the risk? He is the younger brother of Justin Tafa.

The older Tafa sibling is a more established UFC fighter than his younger brother, having competed inside the octagon seven times, and holds a 4-5-1 promotional record.

Both Junior Tafa and his brother Justin are known for their immense power, and both UFC heavyweights have a perfect 100% KO win record.

Junior Tafa was born in 1996, on September 21, in Avondale, New Zealand. Having competed in both kickboxing and boxing prior to transitioning to MMA, it is no wonder that 'The Juggernaut' is regarded as a striking specialist. He holds a 4-4 kickboxing record, where he competed in GLORY, whilst he is 1-0 in professional boxing.

Both Tafa siblings hold knockout wins over a common opponent, Parker Porter. Justin Tafa defeated Porter at UFC 284 in February 2023.

'The Juggernaut' is currently 28 years old, but revealed during an interview with the Daily Mail that he had his first professional fight at the age of 17. He said this:

"Getting into fights was my motivation for footy. I always got into fights playing footy. I enjoyed footy for that. You know, putting grass in their mouth, stepping on their fingers. I was the dirty player. My mum took me out of that real quick. I had my first pro fight at 17. I was in the gym training at a young age. I always believed I was going to make it."

After stepping up for his brother at UFC 298, Junior fought Valter Walker, brother of UFC light heavyweight contender Johnny Walker, by a first-round submission at UFC 305. He has since returned to the win column by defeating Sean Sharaf by a second-round TKO at UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira on Oct. 12, 2024.