Sydney, Australia — Australian heavyweight Justin Tafa (7-4, 1NC) was supposed to get back in action late last year, only to be forced to withdraw from a bout with Kennedy Nzechukwu.
Instead, he returns to the octagon at UFC 312 this Saturday, in a much better place in terms of being fully healthy.
“It’s really hard in this sport to say no to fights. It’s like someone’s coming up to you and saying ‘what are you gonna do?'” Tafa explained during the UFC 312 media day this week. When it comes to taking fights while not 100%, he noted that “You can’t just say ‘Oh I’m just going to do nothing.’ You’ve got to say yes and try to fight.”
Still, he continued, “the biggest thing I learned over the last year was to not force my hand. I think everything happens for a reason. Try not to push my case. I just go with the flow and things work out better that way.”
That has led him to a fight with the undefeated Tallison Teixeira. The Brazilian has never gone the distance, finishing all seven of his opponents. An unblemished record easy on, however, can be a double edged sword, and Justin Tafa used his brother Junior’s fight against Sean Sharaf, who had also been undefeated, as an example.
“It’s easy to feel like you’re the shark when you’ve been dominating, until you meet someone else that’s another shark,” he stated. “He had that fight against someone that had finished all his opponents too. My brother has been tested, that’s why he came away with the W. That was the difference.”
Watch the full UFC 312 media day appearance by Justin Tafa above.
