Survival or advancement? De Lima, Tafa lock horns in UFC 298

MANILA, Philippines – There are two questions being asked when heavyweights Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Justin Tafa collide in UFC 298 on Sunday, February 18, at the Honda Center in Arizona.

The first: Is de Lima (29-9-1) just holding on to a career that has passed him by? The second: Is de Lima just road kill for Tafa (7-3, 1 no contest) on his way to the top?

Once de Lima arrived in the UFC, he never found that traction or consistency to allow him to vault to the top of the rankings and get that title shot. It was win, lose, win, lose. It was good enough to keep a UFC contract, but little more. It looked like he had finally found his rhythm when he defeated Maurice Green and Ben Rothwell in succession, but then he suffered a crippling loss to Blagoy Ivanov. 

Most recently, he defeated Andrei Arlovski, who is another fighter hanging on to a contract but whose best days are gone; and Waldo Cortes-Acosta. Just when things seemed to be getting better for de Lima, he was knocked out by Derrick Lewis in UFC 291.

Now, the 38-year-old Brazilian is up against Tafa, the Australian wrecking machine who had been making mincemeat out of foes after an auspicious debut.

Tafa lost to Carlos Felipe and Jared Vanderaa in his first two UFC bouts. He rebounded mightily with two wins, then saw a third fight declared a no contest against Austen Lane. 

He had endured online taunts from Lane’s coaching staff about how he got lucky.

“That served me a lot of motivation,” Tafa explained, “to serve a knockout sandwich.” 

Which he did against Lane in the rematch in September of 2023.

Now with de Lima on the horizon, a win could move him closer to the Top 15 of the heavyweight division.

“It’s simple — I plan on knocking him out,” succinctly put the 30-year-old Tafa, whose brother Junior also competes in the UFC’s heavyweight division.

“No matter where Marcos is at the moment, I cannot take him lightly,” he added. “If the Austen Lane fight showed — you have to respect everybody. When you get into the Octagon, you fight with no hesitation.”

“Whether for survival, for glory, or your family, you fight.”

UFC 298 will be televised live in the Philippines on Sunday, February 18, over the Premier Sports Channel on Sky Cable and Cignal as well as on the Blast TV streaming application.

The early prelims will begin at 7:30 a.m., while the preliminary card (where de Lima and Tafa fight) comes on at 9 a.m. The main card will get underway at 11 a.m.