Making his debut at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia was Brazil’s Tallison Teixeira, a Contender Series heavyweight coming into the promotion in a high-profile fight with Justin Tafa.
Fighting at home, “Bad Man” Tafa might have been the sentimental favorite, but it was Teixeira with the slight edge with the oddsmakers. And he showed just why when the big men went at it inside the Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday.
The big boys started with a teep kick by Teixeira followed by a head kick. He forced Tafa up against the cage. Teixeira landed a knee to the body and an elbow to the face, dropping Tafa way under a minute into the fight, and in no time the ref had stepped in.
Tafa didn’t like the finish, and protested, but it certainly didn’t look good for him. Following the bout, Teixeira, who maintained his perfect record, told Daniel Cormier that “he’s a tough opponent. I went in there, it went unfortunately for him, fortunately for me,” later adding that “I know he’s a tough guy. I figured he’d be able to defend the takedown, but I knew that he was going to lower his head, and that’s when I’d be able to finish the fight.”
Official Result: Tallison Teixeira def. Justin Tafa by knockout (elbow), round 1, 0:35
