Justin Tafa added to UFC 312 fight card

New Zealand’s heavyweight Justin Tafa will compete in Oceania next when he faces Tallison Teixeira at UFC 312 on Feb. 8 in Sydney, Australia, the promotion announced Tuesday.

The pay-per-view card will take place at the Qudos Bank Arena and feature a rematch between middleweight titleholder Dricus Du Plessis and ex-champion Sean Strickland, with Zhang Weili defending her strawweight throne in the co-main event opposite undefeated challenger Tatiana Suarez.

Tafa’s last UFC victory happened inside that venue in September of 2023, when he stopped Austen Lane in just 82 seconds to improve to 7-4 as a professional, with one no-contest. Tafa is looking to rebound from a unanimous decision defeat to Karl Williams in his most recent bout earlier this year in Las Vegas.

Teixeira (7-0) was booked to make his UFC debut this past weekend at UFC 310 but was forced off a fight with Lukasz Brzeski due to an injury. A protégé under UFC veteran Lucas Martins in Sao Paulo, Teixeira moved to 7-0 in the sport with a brutal knockout over Arthur Lopes at Dana White’s Contender Series in September.