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Towering heavyweight debutant finishes fan favorite in 35 seconds at UFC 312

Tallison Teixeira's heavy hands made Justin Tafa pay at UFC 312

Zain Bando

(Zuffa LLC)

Tallison Teixeira lived up to the hype Saturday night with a first-round TKO against Justin Tafa in arguably the most exciting result of the UFC 312 pay-per-view main card.

Teixeira, who graduated from Dana White's Contender Series last summer, improved to 8-0 in MMA. Seven of those wins came by KO/TKO. Meanwhile, Tafa, who has been in the UFC since 2019, now sits at 4-5 in the promotion and is searching for answers

Justin Tafa squints after he suffered a cut near his eye in a heavyweight bout during a UFC Fight Night event.
Justin Tafa squints after he suffered a cut near his eye in a heavyweight bout during a UFC Fight Night event. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

Teixeira Cracks Tafa

Tafa protested the referee's stoppage, but after not intelligently defending himself for several seconds, the fight came to a halt.

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Tafa has now lost two in a row and hasn't been on the winning end since. Sept. 2023, which was part of a two-fight winning streak with a draw mixed in between.

It is unclear what's next for Tafa, but for Teixeira, the possibilities at heavyweight are endless. After all, the UFC needs more heavyweight talent, and Teixeira could certainly be that next fighter in the mix for the next generation of top contenders.

Given the mix of decisions and a draw earlier in the night at UFC 312, barring anything unforeseen in the main event (as the co-main also went the distance), Teixeira earning a performance bonus is more likely than not.

Talisson Teixeira of Brazil punches Arthur Lopes of Brazil in a heavyweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series.
Talisson Teixeira of Brazil punches Arthur Lopes of Brazil in a heavyweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series. / (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

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Teixeira maintained Tafa's unofficial streak of winning by KO or losing by KO, as three of Tafa's five losses have come by KO/TKO.

The Brazilian has tremendous upside moving forward for the rest of the year and beyond, as he more than likely can make a quick turnaround.

Only time will tell.

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Zain Bando
ZAIN BANDO

Zain Bando is a writer for MMA Knockout, part of the Sports Illustrated/Minute Media umbrella. He has covered combat sports since 2019 for notable outlets BJPenn.com and FanSided MMA. He also co-hosts a podcast called "The MMA Outsiders," part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network, which airs Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. A Chicago suburban native, Bando has been enthralled with MMA since 2006 and has been fortunate to attend some of the most high-profile events in the sport's history, both as a fan and media member, including UFC 264, Bellator 297 and Kayla Harrison's PFL MMA debut. He is excited to take the next step in his combat sports writing journey and looks forward to continuing his following of the fight game for years to come. Bando can be reached via email at zainbando99@gmail.com or by social media @zainbando99

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