Junior Tafa UFC: Dana White on the cusp of signing Aussie fighter, who is sleeping on a gym floor in Sydney

Aussie light heavyweight Junior Tafa is preparing for the fight of his life in crazy circumstances.

Junior Tafa has spent the past eight weeks sleeping on a gym floor among bicycles.

Which isn’t ideal.

Especially given, in roughly a month, this rising Australian striker will fly into the United States for what shapes as the biggest fight of his life before UFC president Dana White.

Aged 24, Tafa is one of two Aussies – along with West Australian Jack Della Maddalena – who have been hand-picked to fight for a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series.

For the past two months however, the light heavyweight has been stuck in western Sydney, and sleeping on a gym floor, due to the nation’s snap Covid shutdowns.

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Back in June, Tafa had initially jetted into the Harbour City to work as a sparring partner for Mt Druitt heavyweight Tai Tuivasa – who was preparing for what would eventually be a spectacular KO of American Greg Hardy at UFC 264.

“But just as I was about to go home, everything shut down,” Tafa explained this week. “My home is in Brisbane, my gym is in Brisbane … but right now I’m here in western Sydney.

“And given how strict the laws are at the moment, I can’t go back over the border until I get myself vaccinated.”

Enter UFC legend Mark Hunt.

“Once I realised there was no way to go home, I reached out to Mark and asked if he could give me a hand,” Tafa continued of the retired heavyweight, who has long called Sydney home. “And he said ‘yeah, no problem’.”

Junior Tafa training in western Sydney. Source: Supplied

Apart from helping prepare Tafa for his shot on Contender, Hunt is also allowing the fighter to isolate at one of his western Sydney gyms, which is currently closed to the public.

The moves means the Queenslander can continue training while being mentored by one of the country’s greatest mixed martial artists.

Should Tafa win his fight before White, which is slated for October 20, he will join older brother Justin, a heavyweight, in the UFC.

Asked about his situation, the second youngest of four brothers laughed: “Right now, I’m sleeping on the gym floor.

“I’ve just chucked a mattress in one of the rooms where they keep all the (exercise) bikes.

“The gym also has a microwave so that’s what I’m using to prepare my meals — porridge, chicken and rice, stuff like that.

“So basically, all I’m doing is train, eat, sleep, train eat, sleep.

“I’m lost in the lifestyle.”

Gerard Tafa, Junior Tafa, Kerry McNaught, Justin Tafa & Lorman Tafa

Asked if he was any chance of getting back to Brisbane, and his team, before flying out for Las Vegas, Tafa said he had “no idea” what his fight camp might look like in coming weeks.

The UFC is also yet to officially confirm the former Glory kickboxer’s rival for the bout, which will taker place on episode eight of Contender and air live on ESPN.

“If I can get back to Brisbane, I will definitely go,” explained the fighter who is now ready to join fellow Aussie UFC stars like Robert Whittaker and Alex Volkanovski. “But if not, I will just keep preparing here in Sydney.

“And who better to help me prepare than Mark Hunt, the king of the walk off KO.

“In the past few weeks, he’s really cleaned up my striking and is just helping me out wherever he can. It’s great.

“For me, it’s just about doing whatever needs to be done.”

# UFC action continues this weekend with UFC Fight Night Barboza v Chikadze.

Sunday, August 29

Live on ESPN

Preliminaries, 9am. Main Card, 12 noon.