Kevin Christian: Junior Tafa ‘under twice more pressure’ at UFC Perth
Australia’s personal Junior Tafa enters UFC Perth this Saturday on a two-fight shedding skid as a lightweight heavyweight and an total UFC document of 2-5, and his opponent Kevin Christian desires to make his life even more depressing.
Christian received by way of submission on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024 and got here up quick in his UFC debut 14 months later, which led to some profession modifications. Christian traveled 2,500 miles to go away his hometown Rio Preto do Eva and be part of CM System in Curitiba, and now feels more “adapted to UFC level.”
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Even although he is 0-1 within the UFC and 9-3 as knowledgeable, Christian feels it is Tafa who has all the burden on his shoulders.
“He’s coming in under twice more pressure,” Christian instructed MMA Fighting. “He’s on a two-fight losing streak since moving down a weight class. He’ll be fighting at home, which adds even more pressure, especially with contract implications, so he’s carrying a huge burden. I lost my first fight but I’ve already made improvements, and I’m confident I’ll come out with the win.”
Tafa has solely gone the gap as soon as in 11 skilled MMA bouts, and Christian is assured that the longer the battle goes, the higher he’ll do. Tafa’s losses at 205 kilos got here in submissions towards Tuco Tokkos and Billy Elekana, and his heavyweight run within the UFC featured knockouts over Parker Porter and Sean Sharaf separated by defeats to Valter Walker, Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Mohammed Usman.
“Junior Tafa is an explosive guy with heavy hands who can manage distance well, but he tends to gas out faster,” Christian mentioned. “He explodes early in the rounds but can’t maintain that consistency. I focus a lot on isometric work and ground game, but I also have the tools to engage with him in striking and grappling. It’s a very favorable matchup for me.”
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Christian turned 31 in January and believes he is lastly fulfilling his true potential coaching underneath the wing of Cristiano Marcello within the south of Brazil, particularly contemplating he is now a full-time fighter after spending most of his MMA profession juggling between coaching and engineering faculty.
“I had to balance both,” Christian mentioned. “There was a period when I had to stop [fighting] and focus more on studies, then the pandemic hit and I stayed inactive for a while. I came back after that, already graduated, and left my engineering career behind, and went to war.”
Christian mentioned, “engineering was my Plan A” as a result of he felt “the sport isn’t really seriously” within the Amazon area, taken and it will be almost unimaginable for him to make it to the UFC.
“I had the dream, but not the full belief that it would happen, so I had to study,” Christian mentioned. “But it worked out in the end.”
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“And now I can say I’m ready,” he added. “I’m going in well-prepared, physically strong, and mentally calm. I’ll be fighting in his hometown, but that doesn’t bother me at all. What matters is being good with myself. I made my debut at the APEX, a smaller card, but there’s no such thing in the UFC. It will be a different experience with a crowd now.”
