Justin Tafa To Face Raphael Pessoa On “Fight Island”
Australian heavyweight Justin Tafa will face off against Brazilian fighter Raphael Pessoa on July 25th at “Fight Island”.
Taking to his Instagram Pessoa shared the bout confirming earlier reports that it would take place. The matchup joins one of four events during a two-week stint in July on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
Pessoa will be entering this matchup with a 50/50 record in the UFC. Debuting against rising heavyweight contender Cyril Gane, Pessoa found his first loss inside Mixed Martial Arts being submitted in the first round in August of 2019.
The Brazilian would return to the octagon in October to face former LFA heavyweight champion Jeff Hughes in Singapore. Pessoa would find the victory in this matchup by way of unanimous decision.
Justin Tafa also entered the UFC with a rocky start. The formerly undefeated Mark Hunt protégé debuted against Yorgan De Castro in front of 60,000 people in Melbourne Australia at UFC 243 back in October of 2019. The bout was over quickly with Tafa being finished by KO early in the first round.
Tafa would bounce back from this loss in February securing a TKO victory over Juan Adams that would see Adams leave the organization.
Both fighters being 1 and 1 in the UFC means they will both be looking to make a statement in this matchup.
The bout joins an already stacked card to be headlined by fellow Australian, former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. Facing off against former welterweight title contender Darren Till.
This line-up will include:
- Robert Whittaker vs. Darren Till
- Alexander Gustafson vs. Fabricio Werdum
- Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Mauricio Rua
- Bethe Correia vs. Pannie Kianzad
- Movsar Evloev vs. Mike Grundy
- Raphael Pessoa vs. Justin Tafa
What do you think of this match-up between up and coming heavyweights on fight island?
