Another UFC Perth fight was scrapped on weigh-in day, and the alleged circumstances behind the cancellation have left fans enraged.
Saturday’s UFC event Down Under was initially set to be a lengthy one, with 15 fights confirmed. That number has since dropped to 12, and the most recent pullout came on just a day’s notice.
News emerged early Saturday morning that the main card bout between Justin Tafa and Louie Sutherland had been called off. The latest UFC Perth cancellation was due to an illness suffered by the home favorite.
That’s left Sutherland disappointed, having traveled all the way to Australia for his very first UFC fight. And ‘The Vanilla Gorilla’ seemingly has reason to be frustrated, if his recent remarks are accurate.
Louie Sutherland claims Justin Tafa was almost 10 pounds overweight when hospitalization canceled UFC Perth fight
Sutherland, a 10-3 Scottish heavyweight who signed with MMA’s leading promotion following four straight wins and a title crowning in Levels Fight League, soon issued a social media statement addressing his fruitless trip to Perth.
The 31-year-old claimed that Tafa was not the victim of an unexplained illness and was instead hospitalized while cutting weight. ‘The Vanilla Gorilla’ also claimed that the heavyweight veteran was still between seven and eight pounds away from the 266-pound limit.
“Unfortunately my fight is off,” Sutherland wrote on Instagram.
“I’ve been told my opponent couldn’t make the weight and had to be taken to hospital with about 7-8lbs left to cut but I am still unsure of the specific details.
“I’m absolutely gutted and was so ready to put on a show,” he continued. “The fight game is full of ups & downs but onto the next one, hopefully not too long to wait. “
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Sutherland’s claim enraged plenty of MMA fans who cast doubt over whether Tafa should be kept on the UFC roster.
“A HW should be cut immediately for not making weight.”
“I wonder if people will still blame weight cutting or acknowledge some fighters are just lazy as hell.”
“It’s time for the Tafas to be released. DBX would be great for both of them.”
“Shouldn’t be in the UFC.”
“Tafa should be cut for this. He’s missed weight at heavyweight before too so this isn’t anything new.”
“How do you miss weight by so much as a heavyweight? The Tafas gotta go (to) PFL and never come back.”
“I’m sorry but if you miss weight by 8 POUNDS as a HEAVYWEIGHT, you need to be cut.”
UFC Perth went from two Tafas to no Tafas
Justin is not the only Tafa to have fallen off Saturday’s lineup, either.
UFC Perth was originally set to mark a big family affair for the Tafas, with both Junior and Justin slated to compete. After the latter’s prelim assignment, the younger Tafa brother was booked to co-headline.
Junior was first to fall, with ‘The Juggernaut’ withdrawing from his UFC Perth co-main event against Ibo Aslan.
That cancellation took away a likely finish from the September 27 event, with Tafa and Aslan combining for 20 knockouts in 20 total wins between them.