UFC heavyweight Justin Tafa details what went wrong in historic weight miss

UFC fighter Justin Tafa has explained what went wrong when attempting his UFC Vegas 45 weight cut last week.

Tafa, 28, was thrust into the UFC’s spotlight with just a 3-0 record to show for it back in 2019. Since then he’s gone 2-3 in the promotion, but last Saturday night, he broke a two-fight losing streak by knocking Harry Hunsucker out in an emphatic fashion.

Unfortunately, that didn’t really reveal the full story with Tafa becoming the first fighter in UFC history to miss the heavyweight limit on the scale. He came in at 267 pounds, one pound over the 266 lbs maximum.

In his post-fight press conference, Tafa spoke candidly about what went wrong.

“For me, man, usually, if I get the same purses every time, then everything works out good,” Tafa said. “This week I water-loaded like I usually did, but I lost no weight at all, and I knew by the time it hit Thursday, I was like, ‘Damn, man.’ Usually I’m down four, five pounds. I knew it was gonna be a hard cut. I sauna’d for like 11, 12 hours just to get it and by the time I hit that last pound, I was just like, ‘No, I don’t think I could fight if I continued.’ But you know, the goal of mine was to make history, and that wasn’t the way I wanted to.”

He continued, “I was done, bro. Everyone that was there, the PI could see how much work I put in there, and I was barely making it. It was unprofessional of me, and it will never happen again, and I apologize to all those that were involved, but Harry got that purse. A one-pound disadvantage at heavyweight isn’t the same as a one-pound disadvantage at featherweight. We’re heavyweights at the end of the day, and he still got that 30 percent, but he’s going home with a sore head, and I’m going home with my hands raised.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

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