ANAHEIM, Calif. – Marcos Rogerio de Lima beat Junior Tafa with a second-round TKO Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 298 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Take a look inside the fight with Rogerio de Lima, who fought Tafa on 24 hours’ notice after Tafa’s brother Justin pulled out on weigh-ins day.
Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Junior Tafa
Result: Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Junior Tafa via TKO (leg kicks, punches) – Round 2, 1:14
Updated records: Rogerio de Lima (22-9-1 MMA, 11-7 UFC), Tafa (5-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC)
Key stats: Rogerio de Lima landed a dozen brutal leg kicks in about 6 minutes of cage time, and they led directly to the TKO.
Rogerio de Lima on the fight's key moment
“You’ve got to know how to (properly throw kicks). It’s not just throwing a kick. You have to understand that if you don’t kick right, you’re going to end up hurting yourself more. You’ve got to train (kicks), but I know how to do it and I do believe 1,000 percent that he’s not going to be walking tomorrow.”
Rogerio de Lima on an opponent change the day before
“That definitely never happened to me before, (taking a fight on a day’s notice) – especially on the day of the weigh-ins having the news they want to change the opponent. They would already have somebody to replace (Justin Tafa), especially because he was a southpaw. That’s what I trained in my whole camp for. But I know I trained in the best place in the world, American Top Team. We just had to adapt and change a few things here and there, and I’m very happy with the result.”
Rogerio de Lima on what he wants next
“I’m feeling my foot a little bit now. Of course, the kicks are going to cost me a little bit, but nothing bad. I want to spend some time with my family in Brazil and I have some business that I have to take care of there. But I believe in June, probably looking forward to be ready to fight.”
To hear more from Rogerio de Lima, check out the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.
