FOUR months ago, Junior Tafa stood in Brisbane’s King George Square and watched on as Paul Gallen and Justin Hodges jawed away at one another.
Which was strange.
For a start, Tafa wasn’t a boxer.
No, he was an MMA hopeful, right?
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A younger brother to UFC heavyweight Justin Tafa – and sparring partner for no less than cult superstar Tai Tuivasa – who was, we thought, gunning to make the Octagon himself after four years in Glory Kickboxing.
So what the bloody hell he was doing at a Brisbane boxing weigh in?
Not only set to appear on said Gallen undercard, we soon learned, but taking the fight on seven days notice — and against an opponent who outweighed him by 40kg.
“But when the UFC starts looking for names here in Australia,” Tafa explained to Fox Sports Australia, “I want mine popping”.
And ‘pop’ it has.
Only four months since winning on that Gallen undercard by TKO, and seven since taking his first professional MMA fight, 26-year-old Tafa has blasted his way into Australia’s hyped UFC 284 event with a staggering run of knockouts.
Following his switch from kickboxing in 2022, the Queenslander has gone on an undefeated run that includes four fights in MMA and that fifth in boxing — winning every one by KO or TKO.
Which is why early on Tuesday morning, UFC officials confirmed Tafa will now make his Octagon debut at heavyweight in Perth on February 12 — against former NFL running back Austen Lane.
Asked this week about his incredible run of fights over the past seven months, Tafa laughed: “Well, you’ve gotta risk it for the biscuit.
“And I’m a gambling man.
“I also feel like I’ve got some of the best striking in the world, and it’s showing.”
Which is why Tafa is now predicting a sixth straight finish in Perth.
“I go into every fight wanting to finish,” he continued.
“I was introduced to grappling very early on in my career, I just choose not to use it.
“I’d rather punch guys in the face than choke them.”
It has been this way too, you should know, since his early days as a promising rugby league player.
“Because it was always fighting for me,” grins the striker who initially built up a strong resume in kickboxing. “I even brought fighting to football.”
Take his last ever game, aged 17.
“There was a blue on the field and myself and this other guy, we got sent off,” the fighter recalls.
“And as we’re leaving the field, our changing rooms were right next to each other.
“So I walked past his room, knew he was in there and, yeah … thought why don’t we have round two?”
So what happened?
“Got suspended,” he said. “Was the last time I ever played.”
Apart from getting ready for his sixth fight in less than a year, Tafa also fought only weeks ago on the Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN card — stopping Tsuyoshi Sudario in just over 90 seconds.
Lane, meanwhile, is the former Jackson Jaguar’s defensive end who opposed fellow NFL alumni Greg Hardy on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018.
While Lane lost that bout, he eventually recovered and went on a six-fight winning streak before returning to the Contender Series once again last year.
This time, the tattooed American finished Ricardo Jacobi to earn his own UFC debut on a Down Under card set to feature not one Tafa, but two.
So as for how it feels to be fighting on the same UFC card as his brother?
“Really proud,” Tafa said.
“We used to fight together on the same kickboxing cards as teenagers.
“And preparing for fights, we’ve always been calm and relaxed.
“We’re a different type of fighter I believe when it comes to preparing for battle.
“It’s hard to explain unless you’re there.”
More relaxed?
“Not relaxed, but content,” Tafa says. “We’re at peace with breaking bones.”
