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Tafa (6-4) is 2-4 under the UFC banner, meaning his back is against the wall after starting his career a perfect 4-0 in promotions like Brave CF and RIZIN. On the plus side, he’s fighting in his own back yard for this one, taking on Billy Elekana.

Elekana’s status as an American should put the crowd behind Tafa, and that’s something he appreciates. “I feed off the energy for sure. I really enjoy fighting, so the louder the crowd, the better,” he stated during this week’s UFC 325 media day.

When it comes to Elekana, Tafa pointed out to some shared ancestry. “I’m a fan of this guy. He’s another Samoan. I back the Samoans who ever fight anywhere in the world,” stated Tafa. “This guy, it just sucks that I’m in no position to turn any fights down. I’ve got to fight this guy, but it is what it is. It’s not going to stop nothing, I’m going to look to take his head off.”

Just what kind of fight is Junior Tafa expecting at UFC 325? He pointed to a heavyweight kickboxing classic.

“You guys remember when the last two Samoans went up there, Mark Hunt vs. Ray Sefo. I would love to give you a round two. I would love to just stand there and show the world what we do.”

Hunt and Sefo actually faced off twice in their careers, fights that are still remembered to this day.

Watch the full UFC 325 media day appearance by Junior Tafa above.

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In the co-main event, Stephen Thompson was narrowly edged out of a decision opposite of Gabriel Bonfim. And in the main event, the all-time leader in KOs in the UFC, Derrick Lewis, delivered yet again, with a first-round knockout of hot prospect Tallison Teixeira. A few vets as well as a couple of fighters that have never found their footing within the promotion feature on this edition of losers matchmaker.

Tallison Teixeira

Derrick Lewis took just 35 seconds to stop Tallison Teixeira in the main event of UFC Nashville. This was just Teixeira’s second fight within the UFC. Tallison was signed last year after his first-round finish of Authur Lopes on the Contender Series. Teixeira’s sole win with the promotion was a 35 second destruction of Justin Tafa back in February. Lewis entered this fight ranked at #9 while Teixeira was ranked at #13. Just too much too soon for the prospect.

It’s the first loss of the 25-year-old’s nine-fight MMA career, but he is still incredibly early on. A good next opponent for Tallison would be Mick Parkin. Mick is 4-1 since being signed during the 2022 season of the Contender Series. Parkin was last in action back in March when he lost a unanimous decision to fellow ranked heavyweight, Marcin Tybura. Mick is currently ranked at #12 in the division so this would be a nice match up for him. Likely would be a striking heavy affair- one that fans could probably expect to see on the main card of a Fight Night.

Teixeira’s next fight: Mick Parkin

Stephen Thompson

Gabriel Bonfim narrowly defeated Stephen Thompson in an exciting back and forth striking battle at UFC Nashville on Saturday. Stephen entered the fight ranked at #12 within the UFC’s welterweight division while his opponent was unranked.

With the loss on Saturday, Wonderboy, who is now 42 years old, has amassed a three-fight losing streak. Thompson’s last victory came in December of 2022 against Kevin Holland.

At this point fun fights are the only option for Thompson. He’s soon to be out of the rankings as well. Why not a fight with ‘The Action Man’ Chris Curtis? Chris had his first UFC fight a 170lbs. on Saturday, winning a split decision against Max Griffin in the feature prelim. A gritty, active and boxing-heavy fighter, a matchup against Wonderboy would be an exciting bout and a cool clash of standup styles. Fight would also mean something as Curtis is now on the rise towards a ranking in the welterweight division. Thompson is a fan favorite and former title challenger, but he likely only has a couple more fights left maximum. Why not keep them striking heavy?

Thompson’s next fight: Chris Curtis

Calvin Kattar

Calvin Kattar lost a competitive fight to Steve Garcia on the main card of UFC Nashville on Saturday. Kattar entered the fight ranked at #14 within the UFC’s featherweight division, while Garcia entered the fight unranked. Kattar has now lost five fights in a row and has not been in the win column since his January 2022 victory over Giga Chikadze.

Bottom line- Kattar needs a win. Now 37, Kattar will slip out of the rankings and likely face a prospect looking to make a name for themselves. An interesting next matchup would be against a fighter like Jose Delgado. The 27-year-old 2024 Contender Series alum has competed just twice within the UFC. Jose has scored a pair of first round finishes this year stopping Connor Matthews in February and an 11-0 Hyder Amil last month. Delgado is dangerous and has stopped all 10 of his pro victories. Thwarting a young hungry fighter like this would prove Kattar still belongs and fast track him back towards the rankings.

Kattar’s next fight: Jose Delgado

Nate Landwehr

Morgan Charriere melted Nate Landwehr early in the final round of what was an action-packed fight on the main card of UFC Nashville on Saturday. The fight would go on to win fight of the night honors as Landwehr put on a gutsy display, as he often does, on the way to losing his third fight in his last four. Nate is now 5-5 with the promotion.

The perfect next fight for Landwehr is Billy Quarantillo. This one is a no brainer; can’t believe it hasn’t been booked previously. Billy has also lost three of his last four fights. He’s got a similar record in the UFC to Nate at 6-5. Both men have never been in a boring scrap. This one would all but be a guaranteed fight of the night. And the winner would be about a win or two away from a shot at having a ranking.

Landwehr’s next fight: Billy Quarantillo 

Austen Lane

Austen Lane dropped another fight after he was submitted late in the first round of his bout with Vitor Petrino on Saturday. Lane has now gone 1-4, 1 NC during his nearly three-year stint with the UFC. Lane is a product of the Contender Series where he earned redemption for his 2018 DWCS loss (opposite of Greg Hardy) with a finish over Richard Jacobi in 2022 to earn a UFC contract.

To say that Lane has struggled would be a massive understatement. Lane’s lone win with the promotion came in October of 2024 with a unanimous division victory over Robelis Despaigne. If the UFC’s heavyweight division wasn’t so shallow, Lane would likely have already have received the boot from the roster.

Lane’s next fight should be against the loser of Ryan Spann vs Lukasz Brezeski who are scheduled to fight at UFC 318 on July 19th. Timing would matchup well as they are competing just one week apart. Spann has lost four of his last five bouts. His last fight came back in March, which was his first appearance at heavyweight, a second round TKO at the hands of Waldo Cortes-Acosta. Brezeski is 1-5 with the promotion, with is only win coming to Valter Walker in April of 2024. Loser of the bout facing Lane would make sense and at this point, the loser of that bout would likely be cut by the UFC.

Lane’s next fight:  Ryan Spann vs Lukasz Brezeski loser

Junior Tafa

Tuco Tokkos submitted Junior Tafa in the second round of their bout on Saturday to kick off the main card of UFC Nashville.  The fight was Tafa’s first a 205lbs. as he had previously exclusively competed at heavyweight for the duration of his professional fight career.

Tafa is on the hot seat as he is 2-4 within the UFC, since being signed in early 2023.

If Tafa was still at heavyweight, an easy pick here would be Austen Lane. Loser essentially deserves to be let go from the promotion. However, if Tafa elects to stay at light heavyweight- and he likely will- his next fight should be against Ivan Erslan. Ivan is 0-2 in the UFC since being signed in 2024. He lost his debut to Ion Cutelaba via split decision. Most recently, Ivan lost a unanimous decision to Navajo Stirling at UFC 315 in May. Loser of this fight would really have to make a hard case to keep their job with the promotion. Banger fight though, as the styles and stakes have a high chance to produce a finish in this matchup.

Junior’s next fight: Ivan Erslan

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Tafa (6-3) fights at 205 in the UFC for the first time during his promotional run. After dropping three bouts at heavyweight with his lone win coming over Parker Porter in 2023 the move to 205 seems like the right one former kick boxer. He came into UFC Nashville off a TKO victory over Sean Sharaf last October.

Tokkos (10-5) was in need of a win after dropping his last two against Oumar Sy and Navajo Stirling. He fought for his first UFC win against Tafa on Saturday.

Round 1 Tafa came out trying to leave dents on Tokkos. His opponent felt that and went in for a single leg takedown dealing with elbows to the head until he got Tafa down. Tafa was able to get to his feet, Tokkos shot in for a single and ate a bunch of elbows, but got the takedown.

Tafa got back to his feet and threatened a ninja choke, but the angle was wrong. He bailed on it landing nasty elbows to the head, but Tokkos got him down once again anyway. Tuco took the back on the ground with a minute left in the round.

Tuco ended up in mount and landed some shots, but Tafa was able get top position and finished the round with some big shots including one that cut Tokkos.

Round 2 Tafa came out with some bad intentions putting it on Tokkos landing massive shots and hurting him. Tafa forced him to stand, and landed on him again, but Tokkos was able to get him back down and control the position.

Tokkos continued to dominate the position and landed some ground and pound. He switched between ground and pound and looking for a submission through the round.

Tokkos finally got the arm triangle submission he was looking for and forced the submission. Tuco Tokkos gets his first UFC victory.

Official Result: Tuco Tokkos def. Junior Tafa via R2 SUB (Arm Triangle), 4:25

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Barnett (23-8) resides in Tampa, FL. With Hurricane Milton bearing down on the region he was unable to travel to Las Vegas for his fight.

In his place will enter Sean Sharaf who will make his UFC debut against Tafa at the UFC APEX.

Sharaf (4-0) makes his way to the big show with an undefeated record while bouncing around promotions. All four bouts have ended in the first round via KO or TKO making him a solid booking against fellow heavy-hitte Tafa.

Tafa (5-3) comes into the fight on a two-fight losing streak. He dropped a very short notice fight against Marcos Rogerio de Lima at UFC 298. His brother Justin was supposed to fight Lima, but suffered in an injury the day before the fight.

The other loss came at UFC 305 where he lost via heel-hook against Valter Walker.

No word on what’s next for Chris Barnett.

UFC Vegas 98 looks as follows:

• Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira
• Brad Tavares vs. Jun Yong Park
• Grant Dawson vs. Rafa Garcia
• Chidi Njokuani vs. Jared Gooden
• Josh Fremd vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
• Daniel Rodriguez vs. Alex Morono
• Niko Price vs. Themba Gorimbo
• Clayton Carpenter vs. Lucas Rocha
• CJ Vergara vs. Ramazan Temirov
• Jonathan Pearce vs. Pat Sabatini
• Dan Argueta vs. Cody Haddon
• Cory McKenna vs. Julia Polastri
• Junior Tafa vs. Sean Sharaf

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As chance would have it, both were fighting siblings, with Justin Tafa and Johnny Walker also competing under the UFC banner. Not that it mattered, but family ties would come into things a bit later.

The heavy leather was flying early in the fight, with Tafa letting his hands go. That got the crowd in it, but Walker weathered the storm. Moments later, he had a body lock, putting his weight on Tafa to get him to his knees. Tafa however was soon back up, though Walker was still on him, landing a takedown moments later despite a Tafa fence grab.

This time, Walker got an extended period in top position, settling into guard and looking to land some ground n’ pound. Tafa, meanwhile, was nowhere near the fence, and nowhere near being able to scramble out. After catching Tafa in a heel hook, Walker was in a good spot, and Junior proceeded to scream – bringing in the ref to wave it off, with a scream being considered a verbal submission.

Fans didn’t love it, and the UFC broadcast seemed to forget to the rule, resulting in a lot of confusion on the broadcast. There’s little question, however, that Valter Walker had the win.

Junior Tafa appeared to take umbrage with the stoppage, and briefly tried to get at Walker after the fight, slapping him, until cooler heads prevailed. Walker then called for a fight with Tafa’s brother Justin, saying he was unhappy that Junior had targeted his own brother, Johnny Walker, for a future light heavyweight fight.

Official Result: Valter Walker def. Junior Tafa by technical submission (heel hook), Round 1, 4:56

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Tafa (5-2), set for a heavyweight showdown with Valter Walker at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia this Saturday, has a game plan. Beat Valter, then fight Walker’s brother, Johnny Walker, next.

Of course, Johnny Walker competes as a light heavyweight, but Tafa is game for a move down in weight.

“I would like to fight both of the Walker brothers if I could,” Tafa stated during this week’s UFC 305 media day. “I want to campaign down to light heavyweight, and his brother, I’d like to come after too.”

As to why he wants to spark this sibling rivalry of sorts, Tafa added “I’m a fan of their fighting style. They’re cool cats, you know?”

Tafa himself is part of a fighting family, with brother Justin also competing in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Earlier this year, he stepped in to replace Justin on just one day’s notice against Marcos Rogerio de Lima. A month later, Justin returned the favor, replacing Junior opposite Karl Williams.

Despite the loss to de Lima, it’s not a fight he’s eager to revisit. “Not really, that was my brother’s fight. That’s someone he wants to take on,” Junior Tafa stated, before adding “if the opportunity is there, I would love to fight him on a full camp.”

When a UFC tag team division was jokingly suggested to the heavyweight, Tafa proclaimed that he and is brother were “the baddest brothers in the f*cking whole company, man. We’ll take anyone on. Elimination Chamber, whatever it is. We’ll go all the way.”

Watch the full UFC 305 media day appearance by Junior Tafa above.

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With the Tafa brothers both fighting at heavyweight the move made sense — but even if he had been part of Justin’s camp, it was still an incredibly risky choice for Junior Tafa, with de Lima a very dangerous talent.

Early on, there was a bit of trading and a couple of kicks, before the pair planted and traded a bit. Rogerio de Lima then went back to his kicks, getting in some low kicks and chewing up the calf of Tafa. But with Tafa off-balance and already limping, Marcos Rogerio de Lima opted to close the distance, tie things up, and look for a takedown.

Eventually, that takedown would come, allowed Rogerio de Lima to settle into half-guard and pepper Junior Tafa with punches. Tafa, unable to turn or scramble out, settled for tying up the Brazilian, who was threatening to take the back or move to mount at times.

Tafa came out in the second clearly walking gingerly, and was felled off the first kick, though to his credit Junior did make it back to his feet. He wouldn’t stay there long, however, and the fight wouldn’t last much longer. One more sharp calf kick, and Tafa went down, falling to his back unable to get up. “Pezao” de Lima added a few ground strikes to earn the stoppage from ref Frank Trigg, ending Tafa’s remarkable attempt to fill in for his big brother.

Official Result: Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Justin Tafa by TKO, Round 2, 1:14

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Let’s take a look at what could be next for the winners of the night.

Max Holloway

Once again “Blessed” Holloway finds himself in an extremely unique and awkward position. After beating yet another featherweight contender, it is likely that the 31-year-old still won’t be anywhere near the title conversations due to holding two losses to the current champ.

Having said that, I’m seemingly on an island in the fact that I believe Holloway could for sure earn another title shot. The majority believe that Holloway categorically cannot fight for the title again, as long as Volkanovski is the one who sits on the throne. However, I believe that surely, Holloway has to be able to re-earn a title shot, no matter who is the champion. If Holloway clears out every single contender in his path then he is undeniable. But there lies the issue, he basically has cleared out all other contenders so there’s no one left for him to fight.

That’s where Aljamain Sterling could poke his head into the picture. If Sterling is still wanting to test the featherweight waters, then he is going to have to pick up at least one win before he can fight for Gold. Holloway seems to be the perfect featherweight debut as he himself is running out of contenders. Failing that I believe Holloway’s best port of call would be to make the move back up to lightweight but this time do it properly.

I’m in favour of option number one, though.

Holloway’s Next Fight: Aljamain Sterling

Anthony Smith

“Lionheart” defeated Ryan Spann for the second time this past weekend, in what was a questionable fight to be made. There seemed to be absolutely no reason for that fight to be made again, but it was and Smith returned to the win column, snapping his two fight losing skid.

Despite Smith being the one to get his hand raised during the decision, the fight was an extremely close one that could’ve gone either way. The 35-year-old knows he is likely in a tough position now at this stage of his career.

It is unlikely that Smith is going to go on a title winning run, and after suffering a bad leg injury last year, he has to be picky with the fights he takes. The light heavyweight division is seeing a new lease on life towards the top end and unfortunately, Smith doesn’t match up very well to anyone in the top five.

A fight I could see the UFC making next would be Nikita Krylov vs Smith as an Apex main event. Prepare for it.

Smith’s Next Fight: Nikita Krylov

Giga Chikadze

The 35-year-old Georgian finally returned to combat this past weekend, picking up a win over the always fun, Alex Caceres.

Coming into the weekend this was the fight that a lot of people were most excited for due to the stand-up style of both fighters. The fight played out slightly differently to people’s expectations as it was very cagey, but was a technical match-up nevertheless.

Despite Chikadze being someone who a lot of fans had big expectations for, since his loss to Calvin Kattar, he hasn’t showed signs of living up to those expectations, with the Caceres fight being his first back. As well as that, he is now 35-years-old, and that isn’t an age where you could see him going on a big tear in the featherweight division.

From here, I think fans will come to terms with the fact that he likely won’t hold a UFC title, and will be interested in him just taking fun fights. However, there is one fight that could tick boxes for both him and the fans.

Yair Rodriguez’s style would make for an extremely fun matchup and would be one that the fans would be chomping at the bit to see.

Chikadze’s Next Fight: Yair Rodriguez

Rinya Nakamura

Since his impressive performances on Road to UFC, Nakamura has continued the pattern and has picked up his second UFC win.

With each outing “The Hybrid” lives up to his nickname, showing that he can do it all. In this fight with Fernie Garcia he exhibited incredible ground control and ferocious ground-and-pound.

The 28-year-old is growing to be a very exciting product from Japan, and if he continues in similar vain, will find himself fighting in the rankings soon. Fortunately for Nakamura and the fans, the 135lb division is one of the most stacked, meaning fun matchups for him are in abundance.

Next for “The Hybrid,” I’d like to see him fight a slightly more reputable name than Fernie Garcia, and for me, that would be Brian Kelleher.

Nakamura’s Next Fight: Brian Kelleher

Erin Blanchfield

Questionably buried near the bottom of the main card was Erin Blanchfield vs Taila Santos, a fight that could’ve arguably main event’d its own fight night card.

It’s undeniable that these two women are future champions in the sport. Blanchfield was the one who was slightly better on the night though after struggling in round one to deal with Santos’ speed. From there, she made key adjustments to pick up the latter two rounds to win the fight on the scorecards.

Despite her calling for a title shot next, unfortunately for “Cold Blooded” Blanchfield, I don’t think she will have impressed the UFC enough to be definitely next. Not only that, but I believe the 24-year-old still has a lot to work on before she fights for a title.

That leaves her with only really one option, and that is to fight the winner of this weekends UFC Paris co-main event, Fiorot vs Namajunas.

Blanchfield’s Next Fight: Winner of Fiorot vs Namajunas

Junior Tafa

Junior Tafa matched the feat’s of his brother by ko’ing Parker Porter in the first round of their heavyweight bout.

After a lacklustre UFC debut against Mohammed Usman, it was important for the Kiwi to bounce back with an emphatic win in his second outing, and he did just that.

Someone who impressed on their UFC debut was Michael Parkin, and for me, that is a fight I wouldn’t mind seeing next for both heavyweights.

Tafa’s Next Fight: Michael Parkin

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Zombie (properly Chan Sung Jung) came to fight at UFC Singapore, booked into the main event against former featherweight champ Max Holloway. The South Korean star, himself a multi-time title challenger, rocked Holloway early, and was rocked himself. In the second, he had to fend off a tight submission attempt from “Blessed,” but it was the third round that saw Zombie’s night end early. He opted to engage in a firefight with Holloway, ending up tagged and dropped for the one-punch KO.

It was the second consecutive loss for Zombie, following a failed bid for 145lb gold against Alexander Volkanovski just over a year ago. Following the loss, Zombie announced his retirement, leaving his gloves in the cage while “Zombie” by The Cranberries played one final time.

The bout with Holloway was enough to earn the pair Fight of the Night honors.

Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Singapore went to Junior Tafa and Michal Oleksiejczuk. Poland’s Oleksiejczuk survived an early onslaught to finish Chidi Njokuani with extremely violent ground n’ pound on the preliminary card, while Tafa light up Parker Porter on route to a first-round knockout.

Attendance at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday was 10,263 for a live gate of $1,288,777 USD.

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