Junior Tafa might regret stepping back into the octagon so soon.
The Australian light heavyweight came in over the limit for his fight with Iwo Baraniewski at UFC Vegas 118, stepping to the scale at 206.5 pounds, a half pound heavy, at Friday’s official weigh-ins. Even after stripping down and weighing in again with a box around him, Tafa still failed to make weight.
It should be noted Tafa accepted the Baraniewski fight on a little over two weeks’ notice as a replacement for Billy Elekana, who withdrew
for undisclosed reasons. This is Tafa’s second fight in 35 days following his knockout over Kevin Christian at UFC Perth in May,
It is not yet known if his bout with Baraniewski will proceed at a catchweight and, if so, what percentage of his purse will be forfeited as penalty.
Fortunately for the UFC, there was no issue with the rest of the main card, including welterweight headliners Belal Muhammad and Gabriel Bonfim. Both made use of the one-pound allowance for a non-title fight, registering at 170.5 pounds.
A former UFC champion, Muhammad is badly in need of a win after losing consecutive fights to Ian Machado Garry and Jack Della Maddalena. Muhammad is currently No. 7 at welterweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, with No. 15 Bonfim eager to take his spot.
Bonfim is 4-0 since suffering his lone defeat to Nicolas Dalby in November 2023. The Brazilian standout is 19-1 as a pro and is coming off of a spectacular second-round knockout of Randy Brown this past November, when Bonfim headlined a UFC event for the first time.
UFC Vegas 118 co-main event middleweights Brendan Allen and Edmen Shahbazyan also successfully made weight.
Main Card (Paramount+ at 8 p.m. ET)
Belal Muhammad (170.5) vs. Gabriel Bonfim (170.5)
Brendan Allen (185.5) vs. Edmen Shahbazyan (186)
Fares Ziam (156) vs. Tom Nolan (155)
Bryce Mitchell (135.5) vs. Santiago Luna (136)
Iwo Baraniewski (206) vs. Junior Tafa (206.5)*
Preliminary Card (Paramount+ at 5 p.m. ET)
Matt Schnell (129.5) vs. Alessandro Costa (129.5) — 130-pound catchweight bout
Marcus McGhee (136) vs. John Yannis (136)
Bruno Silva (126) vs. Edgar Chairez (126)
Priscila Cachoeira (135.5) vs. Chelsea Chandler (135)
Jordan Leavitt (145.5) vs. Joanderson Brito (145.5)
Jeisla Chaves (124) vs. Yuneisy Duben (125)
Ketlen Souza (116) vs. Ariane Carnelossi (116)
*missed weight
