UFC 298 gets replacement fight, Junior Tafa steps in to fight Marcos Rogerio de Lima

Marcos Rogerio de Lima will remain on the UFC 298 card in a wild turn of events.

On the ESPN portion of the UFC 298 prelims, de Lima was expected to take on Justin Tafa. During the UFC’s live broadcast of the weigh-ins, it was announced that Tafa was forced off the card due to an injury. Despite this, the UFC was able to work out a last-minute deal to secure a fight for de Lima.

Now, de Lima will be taking on Justin Tafa’s brother, which was first reported by ESPN’s Marc Raimondi.

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UFC adds Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Junior Tafa Late

While UFC matchmakers were backed into a corner given that Justin Tafa had to pull out of the fight, they were quickly able to solve the problem. Justin’s brother, Junior Tafa, was called upon to step up to keep the UFC 298 fight count intact. It gives new meaning to “short notice,” but UFC CEO Dana White will probably tell reporters, “That’s what we do,” and it’s an impressive feat for all involved.

Tafa was scheduled to face Karl Williams at a UFC Fight Night card next month. If Tafa can score a quick finish, then perhaps that bout still takes place. With that said, there has been no official word on the status of that fight against Williams.

Going into the bout with de Lima, Junior Tafa has a pro MMA record of 5-1. His last outing was a successful one, knocking out Parker Porter with a right hook back in August 2023. As for de Lima, he’s hoping to rebound after a 33-second loss against Derrick Lewis last year. It’ll be interesting to see who ends up benefitting from this last-minute turnaround, but one thing is for sure, we will be watching.