Tafa was scheduled to face debutant Louie Sutherland at UFC Perth, but was taken ill on weigh-in day and was unable to register an official weight for the contest. For his part, Sutherland made weight. But due to Tafa’s inability to get to the scale, the bout was removed from the fight card.
Last night, Tafa posted a statement to his Instagram to let his fans know that he was stepping back from the sport.
“Taking time out of this fight game,” he wrote.
“The body and mind needs time to recover, six major surgeries in the last three years does that to you. Time to enjoy the other fruits of life for now and enjoy watching my kids grow. Thank you UFC, had some good times in there.”
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Tafa made his UFC debut back in October 2019 in a bout he lost to fellow heavy hitter Yorgan De Castro at UFC 243 in Melbourne, but he bounced back with a first-round TKO of Juan Adams at UFC 247 in February 2020.
Decision losses to Carlos Felipe and Jared Vanderaa followed before he picked up back-to-back first-round knockouts of Harry Hunsucker – via head kick – and Parker Porter.
An accidental eye poke brought his June 2023 bout with Austen Lane to a premature end as the bout was ruled a no contest. The pair later rematched at UFC 293, where Tafa scored a first-round knockout victory. It would be his last win of his UFC run, with losses to Karl Williams and Tallison Texeira rounding out his 10-fight run under the UFC banner.
“God willing, if I return to fight again I will be a lot healthier and able to show you my true potential. If not then God has something else planned in store for me. I appreciate all the support and love, you guys pushed me on when I thought I couldn’t. What a ride.”
And while his health issues ahead of his scheduled bout with Sutherland at UFC Perth eventually led Tafa to step away, the Aussie did leave the door slightly open for a potential return.
“God willing, if I return to fight again I will be a lot healthier and able to show you my true potential,” he wrote.
“If not then God has something else planned in store for me. I appreciate all the support and love, you guys pushed me on when I thought I couldn’t. What a ride.”
