Justin Tafa Ethnicity, Parents, Samoan Heritage & More

There will be a few fighters who’ll be opening their account for 2025 at UFC 312 and heavyweight contender Justin Tafa is one of those fighters, who’s gearing up for a high-stakes matchup this weekend. ‘Bad Man’ will be taking on Tallison Teixeira in the latter’s first UFC fight with a chance to get back into the winning column.

Justin Tafa has been a UFC fighter for almost six years now, but he hasn’t made much noise inside the Octagon yet. With a modest UFC record of 4 wins, 4 losses, and a no-contest, fans aren’t really aware of the heavyweight star given that is one of the more reserved types of fighter in the sport, who prefers to let his skills do the talking. Tafa’s calm demeanor is a reason why there’s not much known about the heavyweight despite being in the UFC for over 4 years. Here is some information about the fighter.

Is Justin Tafa Hawaiian? What is his nationality?

Although he’s seen fighting mostly at UFC events in Australia, Justin Tafa was actually born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 13th December 1993. While he holds Kiwi citizenship, Tafa represents Australia as a professional MMA fighter. Moreover, ‘Bad Man’ also currently resides in the land down under, in Brisbane, to be exact.

The 31-year-old came to love fighting all thanks to his grandfather, who passed down that passion to his grandchild, which is related to his roots. When it comes to his ethnicity, he does bear a resemblance to that of former UFC fighter Mark Hunt because there are a lot of similarities between the two heavyweights. Here’s what we know about Justin Tafa’s ethnicity.

About Justin Tafa’s ethnicity & Samoan roots

Besides being a heavyweight fighter just like Mark Hunt, Justin Tafa was also born in Auckland with a rich Samoan background. Furthermore, ‘Bad Man’s first choice of sport was Rugby, which is kind of a big deal in New Zealand, which is also a sport that acts as a platform for many athletes who have a Samoan background.

Just Tafa even made to turn to a professional career in rugby, playing for the Mount Albert-based club, Marist Saints, which is a top-grade club in the junior Auckland Rugby League. That followed a spell with the Melbourne Storm in Australia. However, Tafa’s grandfather, as we’ve mentioned already, played a big role in his decision to become a combat sports athlete instead, and that was because his grandfather was a fighter as well. Let’s take a look at that aspect.

Justin Tafa’s background and family

Justin Tafa’s grandfather, Fuailefau Pati Tafa, was a national boxing champion from New Zealand, who was also a heavyweight athlete. While there’s not much known about his record, we do know that all of his grandsons love fighting because not only does Justin Tafa fight MMA professionally, but his three brothers do the same as well.

Meanwhile, the UFC heavyweight doesn’t bring his family to the public eye, which is why there isn’t much information about his parents and brothers. However, one of his brothers, Junior Tafa, is a former Glory kickboxer and now also fights in the UFC heavyweight division.

The Tafa family seems to share a great passion for fighting, given their history of competing in combat sports. However, Justin Tafa started off quite late in his MMA career. Nevertheless, he’s in the big leagues now and is certainly a fighter who could make a serious impact.

Although Justin Tafa has the same amount of losses as wins, he did go on a 3-fight winning streak before succumbing to a defeat in his last outing. Keeping that in mind, a win over Tallison Teixeira would do more good than harm to his UFC career as we wait to see how the fight pans out this weekend.