Preview: UFC on ESPN 53 ‘Ribas vs. Namajunas’

Heavyweights

Karl Williams (9-1, 2-0 UFC) vs. Justin Tafa (7-3, 4-3 UFC)

ODDS: Williams (-180), Tafa (+150)

The heavyweight division is always on the hunt for impact players, and Tafa has officially done enough to be interesting at this point in his UFC career. Tafa was raw even by recent standards when the UFC picked him up in 2019, and Australia’s “Bad Man” immediately got a rude awakening in his promotional debut, quickly charging into a Yorgan De Castro knockout. That did at least have the effect of teaching Tafa some much-needed patience, but after flat decision losses to Carlos Felipe and Jared Vanderaa, the worry was that he might have overcorrected and made himself ineffective as a result. However, Tafa has proven himself to be an effectively brutal counterpuncher during his current four-fight undefeated streak. He has not had to press things, but Harry Hunsucker, Parker Porter and Austen Lane have each gone down in short order once Tafa has landed some offense. He was initially slated to face Marcos Rogerio de Lima in February until an injury cropped up, at which point his brother, Junior Tafa, stepped in. He returns the favor here, replacing his brother against Williams.

Williams has proven to be a one-dimensional fighter during his two-fight UFC career, but given that his one dimension is wrestling, it might just be enough to find a ton of success as a heavyweight. Williams does have some functional striking in that he is willing to bang it out when pressed, but if he cannot scare his opponent off, he quickly needs to turn back to his wrestling in order to find some success. Tafa’s wrestling has essentially been a non-factor in his UFC career to date, but he is by far the stoutest opponent physically that Williams has faced. That is enough to give him the benefit of the doubt that he can stuff a shot at some point and end the fight shortly thereafter, if things even get that far. The pick is Tafa via first-round knockout.

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Ribas vs. Namajunas
Williams vs. Tafa
Shahbazyan vs. Dobson
Talbott vs. Saaiman
Quarantillo vs. Zalal
Padilla vs. Pajuelo
The Prelims