Justin Tafa says eye injury forced him to limit sparring for Austen Lane rematch at UFC 293
SYDNEY – Justin Tafa had to make some adjustments in his training camp ahead of his Austen Lane rematch.
Tafa (6-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) will run things back with Lane (12-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in a heavyweight bout Saturday, after their first fight at UFC on ABC 5 in June ended in a no contest just 29 seconds into the fight.
Lane accidentally poked Tafa in the eye, which caused him serious damage, and rendered him unable to continue. Although the fight didn’t even last 30 seconds, Tafa is confident that he was en route to having his way before the fight-ending sequence. The 29-year-old admits he wasn’t concerned about a rematch at first, but after Lane’s coach started talking, he’s now motivated to end their story.
Tafa talked about that and more at Wednesday’s UFC 293 media day in Sydney.
Check out the full interview in the video above. UFC 293 takes place Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.