Justin Tafa scratched from UFC 298 fight with Marcos Rogerio de Lima, brother Junior Tafa steps in

UFC 298 was down to 11 fights, but after some late morning weigh-in drama, it’s back up to 12.

During the UFC’s official weigh-in show, it was announced that Justin Tafa suffered an undisclosed injury during fight week, which has cancelled his scheduled heavyweight bout with Marcos Rogerio de Lima. It was then announced at the end of official weigh-ins on Friday that his brother Junior Tafa will be stepping on a day’s notice.

The scratch comes ahead of an important fight for the elder Tafa brother as he had the opportunity to enter the promotion’s heavyweight rankings. Tafa is unbeaten in his past four appearances, including first-round knockout wins over Austen Lane, Parker Porter, and Harry Hunsucker. The 30-year-old was slated to make his ninth octagon appearance.

The younger Tafa brother was slated to face Karl Williams at the UFC’s Fight Night event on March 23, and while that may still happen, the 27-year-old stepped up to save the heavyweight tilt. Tafa successfully made weight at 249 pounds on Friday after Rogerio de Lima made weight at 261.5. In his most recent outing, Tafa knocked out Porter in the first round at UFC Singapore in August.

Rogerio de Lima remains on the card looking to get back in the win column after a first-round TKO loss to Derrick Lewis at UFC 291 in July.