Both Junior Tafa and Sean Sharaf were utterly exhausted.
The lone heavyweight bout on the UFC Fight Night 244 card was a short-notice replacement bout, as the original opponent for Tafa (6-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC), Chris Barnett, had to pull out of the fight due to hurricane damage at home. Sharaf (4-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) stepped up for his debut on just a few days’ notice, but was stopped at 2:15 of Round 2.
Sharaf nearly found a stoppage himself at the end of Round 1. He mounted Tafa, poured on ground and pound until the horn, but referee Mark Smith didn’t see a need to stop the fight.
The fight continued into Round 2, where neither fighter had much energy. At one point, they both decided to just stand there and catch their breath while Smith called for them to fight. Tafa found home for a few strikes, putting Sharaf on wobbly legs, but struggled to finish the fight.
If this fight were in a video game, their stamina bars would have been completely depleted and blinking red. Somehow, Tafa found enough energy for a few more punches, and the referee mercifully stopped the fight, completing Tafa’s comeback win.
Check out video of the finish below (via X):
WHAT A COMEBACK WIN FOR JUNIOR TAFA 👏 #UFCVegas98 pic.twitter.com/OkMLpb9qzm
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 12, 2024
Tafa returns to the win column for the first time since Aug. 26, 2023, when he defeated Parker Porter. By handing Sharaf his first professional loss, Tafa ended a two-fight skid.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 244 results include:
- Junior Tafa def. Sean Sharaf via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:15
- Julia Polastri def. Cory McKenna via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
- Cody Haddon def. Dan Argueta via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Clayton Carpenter def. Lucas Rocha via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:12
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 244.
