The Ultimate Fighting Championship is coming to VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday, June 24. There are plenty of exciting fights on the UFC on ABC 5 main card, which you can watch on ABC.
The preliminary card looks great as well, with a number of interesting matchups you can watch on ESPN and ESPN+. We’ve already covered one of the UFC Jacksonville prelims, and we strongly advise you to check out our Tabatha Ricci vs. Gillian Anderson prediction piece.
However, in this post, we’re going to focus only on the heavyweight duel between Austen Lane and Justin Tafa. These two are big and heavy fighters who like finishing their opponents with KO. In fact, Lane has a knockout-to-win ratio of 91.66%. If you thought that was high, you’re gonna be shocked by Tafa’s KO percentage – this guy is 100% thus far, having won each of his six pro fights by KO/TKO.
Before Betting on Austen Lane vs. Justin Tafa
Austen Lane has fought 15 fights so far, and none of those lasted until the final bell. When it comes to Justin Tafa, he’s got 9 bouts in his portfolio, with six wins by KO/TKO, two losses by decision, and one loss by KO/TKO.
Knowing this, it’s only logical to assume that this fight will be a short one. Or is it? The thing is that despite being a knockout expert, Lane has never fought a guy with such a strong chin as Tafa. This doesn’t mean he hasn’t fought decent heavyweights; it means that Tafa is one of the toughest men on the planet.
The New Zealander has suffered only one loss by KO – it happened on his UFC debut when legendary Yorgan De Castro put him to the floor with a punch in the first round. Since then, he’s fought many great strikers, but no one managed to do the same.
And no one was ever able to beat Tafa by submission. In fact, this guy’s never been taken down. It’s actually no surprise if you think about it. “Bad Man” is 6 feet tall, has a low center of gravity, and weighs over 266 pounds.
It’s very unlikely Lane is going to finish Tafa, but what about the other way around? We doubt it because the former defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs is 6’6 tall with a 6-inch reach advantage. He’s also one very athletic fighter who dances around the opponent, forcing them to miss a lot of their strikes.
Austen Lane vs. Justin Tafa Offshore Odds & Prediction
| Offshore Sportsbook | Austen Lane | Justin Tafa |
|---|---|---|
| BetOnline | +150 | -175 |
| Bovada | +145 | -175 |
| BetUS | +145 | -175 |
| SportsBetting.ag | +150 | -175 |
| Pinnacle | +150 | -175 |
| MyBookie | +142 | -185 |
The easiest way for Austen Lane to win this fight is to try and outbox his opponent. He’s tall enough with long enough reach to be able to handle Tafa’s punches. Plus, Lane’s striking defense is 58%, meaning that most of Tafa’s strikes are likely to miss him.
Of course, Tafa only needs one lucky punch to end the fight, but we don’t think that’s going to happen on June 24. Instead, the most probable scenario for Lane vs. Tafa fight is a win by decision for the American.
