Justin
Tafa is returning the favor for his sibling.
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The elder Tafa will replace his brother, Junior
Tafa, and face Karl
Williams at UFC
on ESPN 53 on March 23. MMA Mania was first to report the new heavyweight
matchup, and it was later confirmed by Williams on social
media.
Junior Tafa previously stepped in on short notice when Justin Tafa
suffered an undisclosed injury during fight week ahead of UFC 298.
Junior would go on to suffer a second-round TKO defeat to Marcos
Rogerio de Lima at the Feb. 17 event in Anaheim,
California.
Justin Tafa is unbeaten in his last four Octagon appearances. Most
recently, the 30-year-old Aussie knocked out Austen Lane
in 82 seconds at UFC 293 this past September.
A winner on
Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022, Williams has been
victorious in nine of his 10 professional outings. He is 2-0 in
UFC competition, with back-to-back decision triumphs over
Lukasz
Brzeski and Chase
Sherman to his credit.
UFC on ESPN 53 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is
headlined by a flyweight clash pitting Amanda
Ribas against Rose
Namajunas.