Jared Vanderaa happy with “fun ass fight” against Justin Tafa, in no rush to make move up heavyweight ranks

Jared Vanderaa was excited when he found out he was fighting Justin Tafa and the scrap lived up to his expectations.

Although Vanderaa knew he had the grappling advantage, he wanted to get into a striking fight with Tafa to show off his striking. However, in the fight, Vanderaa suffered a cut in his hairline, but when he saw all the blood rushing down him, he was worried the cut would stop the fight.

“Yeah, I felt all the blood all over me and thought to myself ‘man, this might stop the fight if it’s bleeding this bad.’ I just felt blood around my eye, so I was like ‘f**k’ and I was praying it wasn’t by my eye as I thought if it’s near my eye the doctor is going to stop it,” Vanderaa said to BJPENN.com. “I got to my corner and it’s in my hairline and that was a big relief for me.”

With Vanderaa allowed to continue, he kept on the pressure in the third in a back-and-forth fight. When the final bell rang, Vanderaa says he wasn’t worried about the result as he was too caught up in the enjoyment of the fight.

“Honestly, it was a weird feeling. I talked to my corners and I didn’t even bring up whether they thought I won or lost, all I said was ‘that was a fun ass fight’ and then they told me I won,” Vanderaa said. “At that point, I didn’t care if I had won or lost, obviously, I did, but the experience was way more rewarding than the result. The Fight of the Night bonus is also life-changing, but the fight was one I will remember.”

Image Credit: UFC.com

After the win, Jared Vanderaa says he’s in no rush to work his way up the heavyweight ranks. For now, he says he wants fun fights and continues to improve his skill set as he knows he still has a lot of time left in his career.

“Somewhere in there. I know I’m not at the bottom of the pack but I’m not near the top-15. It just puts me in a spot where I can fight someone around like 20-25, probably like a win or two away from getting a ranked guy,” Vanderaa said. “I don’t belong anywhere near the top-15 just yet but I will be there soon. I’m also in no rush to run into the top-15. It’s really whoever the UFC offers me at this point in my career.”

Although he doesn’t care who is next, Vanderaa is looking to return in September with the chance of sneaking in two more fights this year.

“I’m looking in September after my child is born. Just enjoying being a dad for a little bit before I go back into a full training camp,” Vanderaa concluded.

Who would you like to see Jared Vanderaa fight next?