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

Junior Tafa recently competed against Marcos Rogerio de Lima at the UFC 298 prelims.

Tafa was looking forward to putting together a two-fight winning streak after defeating Parker Porter in August 2023. However, he lost the fight via second-round knockout.

'The Juggernaut' suffered the knockout loss while attempting to save a fight card after his brother, fellow heavyweight contender Justin Tafa, was forced to pull out of the fight due to a health issue.

The older Tafa sibling is a more established UFC fighter than his younger brother, having competed inside the octagon seven times, and holds a 4-3-1 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 27 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."