News Junior Tafa vs Karl Williams is set for March 23

[Safton]

I get that, but the reason I bring those things up is that while Tafa is definitely the most dangerous striker Karl has faced so far, we've seen him leave tons of openings that could lead to takedowns against better guys.

And sure, Mo is a bigger athlete than Karl, but he's a downright mediocre wrestler at best. I mean, he's got an 18% takedown rate for a reason. He's just a buff guy, back in the regionals Don'Tale Mayes shut his game down easily because of it. So as far as keeping TDD rate in context, I genuinely believe that even conceding more than 1 takedown to Mo of all people means you're absolutely lost when it comes to wrestling, which would track given Junior's background.

I actually rate Don'Tale Mayes more than most, for what little it's worth... I agree that Usman's offensive wrestling game is often overvalued in part due to his name when in fact he relies heavily on his physicality to achieve success scoring takedowns or winning clinch exchanges, as I alluded to in my initial post. That said, sadly he's still probably a better wrestler than a lot of other Heavyweights in the division all things considered.

Insofar as the expected outcome of the fight is concerned, that is after all the way I am also leaning. I believe and hope that Karl is capable of taking down, holding down, and grinding out Tafa if he comes correct. It's just hard for me to have any supreme degree of confidence after Karl damn near lost what should have been a lay-up in the eyes of many. Because even if we do accept the premise that "Chase Sherman's TDD >>> Junior Tafa's TDD" -- which I don't have trouble accepting I guess based on available evidence -- there is still the matter that you have a much smaller margin for error with the latter. You fail a takedown against Chase Sherman? No biggie, you can reshoot or even potentially steal the round from him with a remotely active striking game. You fail a takedown or even have a lazy entry against Tafa and you are legitimately taking your life into your own hands.

So yeah, I'm riding with Karl and fading Junior, but I'll be anxious the whole time lol.

 

[Blastbeat]

Tafa by KO I think.

Karl Williams looks like a dead ringer for Big Baby on the heavyweight season of Ultimate fighter, the dude who fought Shaub and was KO’d by Mitrione.

funny enough he also kind of looks like Jared "The Real Big Baby" Anderson, the HW boxer

 

[NoSmilez]

Williams will shoot for the takedown and might get it. He isn't really a GNP guy. His volume is too low but it's heavy. He really isn't a sub guy either; he doesn't mind in guard or past it as long as he is on top. He is just kind of big/strong and his game reflects that. His technical skill isn't all there. I think it's either Junior Tafa takes him out early or he gets grinded out all 3 rounds.

 

[Liverkick-king56]

Tafa (and his brother) are one of those guys who has a chance in every fight even though he might be outmatched skill wise.. hes just dangerous and has the power to change any fight instantly.

It's even crazier if you check out Jr Tafa's kickboxing fights. Tafa is offensively high level but his defence was essentially his chin and toughness which I don't think will translate well in MMA in the long term.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Man I wish my birthday was the 21st night of September

 

[HeffDoesWant]

Yeah Williams is boring but incredibly strong and good at just launching bigger men to rhe mat repeatedly. Decent cardio too. This will look like the Tafa/Usman fight on steroids. Williams is very adept at what he does and what he does negates people like Tafa.

"Tafa/Usman fight on steroids"

Do you mean even less action and worse reffing/judging?

 

[BoxerMaurits]

It's even crazier if you check out Jr Tafa's kickboxing fights. Tafa is offensively high level but his defence was essentially his chin and toughness which I don't think will translate well in MMA in the long term.

Lol, I think that perfectly sums him up as a fighter. It’s quite high-level, but I think he needs to adjust his game a bit to be more successful in the long run.
Here’s a post I made prior to Junior Tafa’s UFC-debut, highlighting his career before signing with the UFC:


Junior Tafa shares his Samoan heritage with legendary fighters such as Ray Sefo and Mark Hunt. The latter is a close friend and training partner of his, aswell as his older brother and future HOF’er Justin Tafa.

He’s a total madman #TafaGang

Back in 2018 Tafa participated in a GLORY 8-man heavyweight tournament at just 22-years of age. The idea of matchmaking for this tournament was to let the four "new" names choose one of the established names as their opponent for the opening-fight.
The young Junior Tafa was the first one to choose an opponent, and he got right at tournament favorite Jamal Ben Saddik, who stands 6’9”.

Here is their staredown and altercation right after Junior choose Ben Saddik, Tafa kinda being dressed like a gangster, and their pre-fight interview afterwards where they look ahead at the fight:



Here’s their fight:





Tafa came short against JBS, but no shame in that (though the problem with his cup was very amateurish) as Jamal is one of the best heavyweights in the world and went on to win the whole thing (and with just one hand in the final, because he broke his right/dominant hand in the semi-finals):



A year before this, Junior Tafa fought against Benjamin Adegbuyi in the final of a 4-man heavyweight tournament at just 21-years of age.
Benny compromised Junior’s legs with low-kicks and ultimately stopped the fight with Tafa unable to continue:




Imo Junior Tafa got himself in the mix with the big names way too early in his career (he went 3-4 (3 KO) in GLORY), probably as a result of having an impressive first round finish in his GLORY-debut at his young age:



Not backing down at all against those guys with his age/experience underlines Tafa’s great confidence, though.

 

[BoxerMaurits]

Junior Tafa was in bad shape during his GLORY-days, carrying way to much fat. He appears to have lost a lot of weight and his shape is way better now.
It also looks like he developed a lot during the last few years, having a bit more calculated fighting-style nowadays. He’s got some good boxing-skills, his overhand right and left hook being very tricky.

Here’s his most recent MMA-fight (finish):



And his most recent Boxing-fight (finish):