Justin Tafa Record, Stats & Next Fight

UFC fight history

Res	Opponent	Outcome	Finish	Rd	Time	Event	Date
L	Tallison Teixeira Heavyweight	KO/TKO	Elbow to Head At Distance	R1	0:35	UFC 312: Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2	Feb 8, 2025
L	Karl Williams Heavyweight	Decision	Unanimous	R3	5:00	UFC Fight Night: Ribas vs. Namajunas	Mar 23, 2024
W	Austen Lane Heavyweight	KO/TKO	Punch to Head At Distance	R1	1:22	UFC 293: Adesanya vs. Strickland	Sep 9, 2023
NC	Austen Lane Heavyweight	No Contest	—	R1	0:29	UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs. Topuria	Jun 24, 2023
W	Parker Porter Heavyweight	KO/TKO	Punch to Head At Distance	R1	1:06	UFC 284: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski	Feb 11, 2023
W	Harry Hunsucker Heavyweight	KO/TKO	Kick to Head At Distance	R1	1:53	UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Daukaus	Dec 18, 2021
L	Jared Vanderaa Heavyweight	Decision	Unanimous	R3	5:00	UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt	May 22, 2021
L	Carlos Felipe Heavyweight	Decision	Split	R3	5:00	UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Kattar	Jan 16, 2021
W	Juan Adams Heavyweight	KO/TKO	Punch to Head In Clinch	R1	1:59	UFC 247: Jones vs. Reyes	Feb 8, 2020
L	Yorgan De Castro Heavyweight	KO/TKO	Punch to Head At Distance	R1	2:10	UFC 243: Whittaker vs. Adesanya	Oct 5, 2019

Outside the UFC

3-0across 3 bouts · 3 promotions · wins by 3 KOXFC 41 · XFC 36 · XFC 30

Res	Opponent	Outcome	Finish	Rd	Time	Promotion	Date
W	David Taumoepeau2-6	KO/TKO	Punches	R2	0:30	XFC 41	May 24, 2019
W	Jeremy Joiner4-3	KO/TKO	Punches	R1	0:28	XFC 36	Jul 28, 2018
W	Dylan Tiaaleaiga0-1	KO/TKO	Punches	R2	3:35	XFC 30	May 20, 2017

Non-UFC bouts (regional/other promotions) and Dana White’s Contender Series — shown for context only, excluded from Schedule Score, striking/grappling rates, and every UFC-scoped metric.

Method of victory & defeat

KO / TKO

7 wins, 2 losses

W7

L2

Submission

0 wins, 0 losses

W0

L0

Decision

0 wins, 3 losses

W0

L3

Finishes

UFC KOs

4

Above avg · 18%Heavyweight

Knockdowns / fight

0.44

Above avg · 0.24Heavyweight

UFC submissions

0

Below avg · 8%Heavyweight

Submission attempts / fight

0.00

Below avg · 0.25Heavyweight

KO history

Knockout power and chin durability (UFC; clean KOs only).

Justin Tafa

PowerChin

Knockout rate

44%

4 KO/TKO wins

Knockdowns dealt

4

3.10 per 100 head

Clean KO losses

2

cuts / injury TKOs excluded

Knockdowns absorbed

2

1.28 per 100 head

Chin gauges use a league scale: green = clean record, red = bottom ~10% of UFC fighters (4+ KO losses · 6+ knockdowns absorbed).

Never submittedin the UFC

Decision behavior

Judging

3 scorecards on file

Justin Tafa

Scorecard luck

Wrong end of the cards

Won just 0 of 1 coin-flip decision — repeatedly on the wrong end of close calls. Judges have given them 1 of 3 rounds they disagreed on (33%).

Coin-flip decisions

Split + majority

0–1

Won – Lost

Swing rounds

Judges disagreed

1–2

Won – Lost

33% went their way

Unanimous2 decisions · 67%

2L

Split1 decision · 33%

1L

Majority

None

10-8 rounds

None scoredno 10-8 rounds in this fighter’s decisions

Most frequent judges

All judges →

Scorecard data ingested from MMA Decisions

Career striking

OverallB63rd

54%221 / 403

Striking accuracy

47%

Striking defense

Sig. strikes / min-1.06 differential

Landed4.05

Absorbed5.11

50%str + td

Defensive rating

Striking edge

+1%accuracy vs opp. landing

worseevenbetter

Strike maps

Sig. strikes by target

Head58%60th129
Body28%81st62
Leg14%61st30

Color = division rank · green elite → red low · % = share of strikes

Sig. strikes by position

85%Standing

Standing85%187
Clinch12%26
Ground4%8

Striking zones

Per-15-minute breakdown — where this fighter lands, and where they get hit.

UFC only

Justin Tafa

Landed per 15

Head

B

65th

35.8

65th

Body

A+

89th

17.2

89th

Leg

B

65th

8.3

65th

Ranks are division percentiles — e.g. 90th = top 10% of the weight class. Higher is always better: on “absorbed” rows the rank is inverted, so a high rank means they get hit less.

Absorbed per 15

Head

D

25th

43.3

25th

Body

F

3rd

21.6

3rd

Leg

F

18th

11.6

18th

Ranks are division percentiles — e.g. 90th = top 10% of the weight class. Higher is always better: on “absorbed” rows the rank is inverted, so a high rank means they get hit less.

Career totals — landed / attempted

Landed (career total)

Zone	Per 15	Landed	Attempted	Accuracy
Head	35.8	129	296	44%
Body	17.2	62	75	83%
Leg	8.3	30	32	94%

Absorbed (career total)

Zone	Per 15	Landed	Attempted	Accuracy
Head	43.3	156	378	41%
Body	21.6	78	99	79%
Leg	11.6	42	45	93%

UFCStats career rates, per 15 minutes. Percentiles vs the division; absorbed is inverted so higher is better.

Grappling

Per-15-minute breakdown of takedowns, submissions, and ground control.

UFC only

Justin Tafa

0%

Takedown accuracy

53%

Takedown defense

Control / 15 min-2.1 min net

On top1.2

On bottom3.3

Offense

Takedowns

C

43rd

0.0

43rd

TD accuracy

0%

Sub attempts

B

59th

0.0

59th

Control

C

47th

1.2 min

47th

Defense

TD defense

D

40th

53%

40th

Controlled

3.3 min

Career totals — landed / attempted, control time

Offense

Takedowns	0 / 2
Submission attempts	0
Control time	4:25

Defense

TDs defended	8 / 15
Control absorbed	11:59

Rates above are per 15 minutes of UFC fight time (54min total). Value colors reflect the per-15 rate’s percentile against the current weight class baseline; raw totals without a division reference stay neutral.

Pace & fade

Round-by-round work rate, and whether they fade.

UFC only

Justin Tafa

9 UFC bouts (per‑round) · 54 min

169%

R3 pace · 3 bouts

Tafa builds (+14% per round through round 3). Within fights that reached round 3, Tafa lifts to 169% of round-1 output by round 3 (3 bouts).

Tafa ▲ BUILDSOutput / min

Rounds backed by fewer than 2 bouts are drawn smaller and dimmed with an n= count — a deep round seen in one or two fights is a thin sample, not a settled rate. Per-round bout counts are in the breakdown below.

Full per-round breakdown

What drives the pace · per round

The composite output line above blends these three inputs — splitting them out shows whether the work rate is built on striking volume, takedown pressure, or top control, and which input fades.

Sig. strikes landed

Tafalanded / min

Takedown attempts

Tafaattempts / min

Control time

Tafa% of round

Round	Output / min	Sig landed / min	Sig absorbed / min	TD att / min	Control	Bouts
R1	4.0	3.6	3.7	0.00	10%	9
R2	4.6	4.6	6.8	0.00	0%	3
R3	5.3	4.3	5.6	0.13	14%	3

Output / minis the headline work rate — significant strikes landed, plus 3 per takedown attempt, plus one per 15 seconds of control — so a takedown-and-grind round isn’t scored as idle the way bare striking volume would. The remaining columns are its components. Per-round rates use UFCStats per-round data (available for ~95% of bouts since 2008). Each round’s rates are averaged only over bouts that reached that round, so the bout count shrinks as rounds deepen. The final round of a finished fight is pro-rated by its actual length.

Schedule Score

Opponent quality, ranked across the UFC. Recent fights weighted heavier.

UFC only

Justin Tafa

10 resolved UFC bouts

Schedule Score

30/ 100

0255075100

Schedule strength

F

13th

17%

13th

Win quality

B

67th

45%

67th

Opponent quality distribution

Every UFC bout, grouped by who the opponent was at the time.

1

3

6

Top-15Ranked #6–#15 at the time
Building3+ UFC fights, ≥.40 win rate
UnprovenFewer than 3 fights, or sub-.40 win rate

Tier	Bouts	Record	Win rate
Top-15	1	0-1	0%
Building	3	1-2	33%
Unproven	6	3-2, 1 NC	60%

Highest-quality opponents

Toughest opponents on the scheduleScore, scored at the time of the fight.

All bouts — opponent quality bout-by-bout

Res	Opponent	Tier	Score	Date
L	Tallison Teixeira	Top-15	46	Feb 8, 2025
L	Karl Williams	Building	15	Mar 23, 2024
W	Austen Lane	Unproven	8	Sep 9, 2023
NC	Austen Lane	Unproven	8	Jun 24, 2023
W	Parker Porter	Building	18	Feb 11, 2023
W	Harry Hunsucker	Unproven	8	Dec 18, 2021
L	Jared Vanderaa	Unproven	8	May 22, 2021
L	Carlos Felipe	Building	15	Jan 16, 2021
W	Juan Adams	Unproven	8	Feb 8, 2020
L	Yorgan De Castro	Unproven	8	Oct 5, 2019

Per-bout quality scoring: champion = 100; same-division ranks 1–5 = 90 → 78 linear; ranks 6–15 = 75 → 60 linear; cross-division champion = 78; cross-division ranked = 45; title-fight challenger (no rank signal) = 50, bumped to 65 when opp had an elite career UFC record at the time. Unranked opponents are scored on UFC record-at-time (long-tenured vet 60, contender-level 45, established 30, building 18, unproven 8). P4P top-10 at time adds +5; top-3 adds +8 (capped at 100). The Schedule Score combines schedule strength (65%) and quality wins (35%), then is held toward a rookie baseline for fighters with limited UFC experience so a thin résumé reads honestly low.

Career cohorts

9 resolved UFC bouts

Performance broken down by situation — camp length, response to the previous result, title-fight presence, and rematches. Computed across every completed UFC bout.

Camp length

Days between fights

Short turnaround

< 100 days

—

Typical camp

100–180 days

1-1

2 bouts

Long layoff

> 180 days

3-3

6 bouts

UFC debut

first UFC bout

0-1

1 bout

Post-result bounce

Performance based on the previous UFC result

After a loss

next bout after a defeat

2-2

4 bouts

After a win

next bout after a win

2-2

4 bouts

First UFC bout

no precedent

0-1

1 bout

Title fights

Performance with a belt on the line

All title fights

as challenger or champion

—

As champion

defending the belt

—

As challenger

fighting for the belt

—

Rematches

Performance when meeting an opponent again

All rematches

any second meeting

—

Revenge bouts

lost the first meeting

—

Encore bouts

won the first meeting

—

Activity & layoff

Last fight, activity, and divisional context.

Time since last UFC bout

1y 4mo

Active

0–6 mo

Normal

6–12 mo

Layoff

12–18 mo

Extended

18+ mo

Justin Tafa

Layoff

1y 4mosince last bout

vs Tallison Teixeira · Feb 8, 2025

DraftKings fantasy scoring

DFSAs favorite 3-2As underdog 1-3

56.0

DK avg

42.4

Median

104.1

Ceiling

6.7

Floor

44%

Boom

33%

Bust

Pro

See Justin Tafa's DK score in every fight

The full fantasy-points log with closing lines — sortable, filterable, with a live summary — for all 9 UFC bouts.

Unlock with Pro →