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UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria
VS
Junior Tafa
Junior Tafa
5-1 · NZL
February 17, 2024 · Anaheim, California, USA
Heavyweight · 3 rounds
261.5lb
Weigh-in
249.0lb
Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Junior Tafa by KO/TKO (Kick), R2 1:14
Performance
Round by round
SSTDKDCtrl
R1
Rogerio de Lima27/361/303:08
Tafa6/180/000:00
R2 · 1:14
Rogerio de Lima6/100/010:18
Tafa5/90/000:00
Total
Rogerio de Lima33/461/313:26
Tafa11/270/000:00

Pre-fight

The model's read going in

The walk-forward model's call at the time of the bout — persisted out-of-sample, with no hindsight about the result.

Prediction
Rogerio de LimaWin probabilityTafa
54.8%45.2%
KO / TKO
43%
Submission
18%
Decision
38%
Expected fight time: 8.8 min
Retrospective pick: the walk-forward model's call at the time of the fight — persisted out-of-sample, with no hindsight about the result.
What drives the pick

Each bar is a feature's push on the model from the center axis. Red pushes toward Rogerio de Lima, blue toward Tafa. Tap a bar for why.

Predicted outcomes
Rogerio de Lima55%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO23%42%
Submission11%20%
Decision21%38%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes30 (1241)act 33
Takedowns0.7 (0.02.8)act 1
Tafa45%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO20%45%
Submission7%16%
Decision18%39%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes28 (1137)act 11
Takedowns0.4 (0.01.8)act 0
Combined totals~58 sig strikes~1.1 takedownsmkt —
How it ends
mkt —
R134%
R225%
R33%
Distance38%
Fighter props
Most sig. strikestie 1.6%
Rogerio de Lima
52.3%-114
Tafa
+11446.0%
Most takedownstie 42.0%
Rogerio de Lima
38.4%-196
Tafa
+19619.6%
Significant strikes — over/under
Rogerio de Lima
Expected: 30.4
30.5
Over 30.5
39.7%
+152
Under 30.5
60.3%
-152
03977
Tafa
Expected: 27.5
27.5
Over 27.5
39.8%
+151
Under 27.5
60.2%
-151
03569
Takedowns — over/under
Rogerio de Lima
Expected: 0.7
0.5
Over 0.5
46.5%
+115
Under 0.5
53.5%
-115
035
Tafa
Expected: 0.4
0.5
Over 0.5
28.4%
+252
Under 0.5
71.6%
-252
035

Odds are model-implied (no real prop market is priced for these). The “most” prices are draw-no-bet — a tie (for takedowns, usually 0–0) is a push, so each side is priced off its chance of winning given a result, while the % shown is the raw chance of landing strictly more. Drag a line in half-point steps: a half line (e.g. 2.5) is a clean over/under, while a whole number adds a third outcome — landing exactly on it, a push — so over, exact and under sum to 100%. On a whole number the over/under odds are draw-no-bet (priced off the decisive mass, since the push refunds), so the two sides stay mirror images rather than implying an arbitrage.

Expected fight time 8.8 min. Predicted-output ranges are percentiles of the model’s simulated fights: sig strikes the middle 50% (25th–75th); takedowns the wider 10th–90th, since they’re 0 in most fights so a narrow band would collapse to 0. Win-by-method = win probability × that fighter’s own method split: the model forecasts how the fight ends, and that forecast is divided between the corners by each fighter’s finishing record — UFC wins in full, earlier-career wins at half weight, as of fight night — reconciled so the fighters’ totals still equal their win probabilities and the methods still total the fight-level forecast above. “Equity” is each of those over that fighter’s win % — how they win given that they win — so a column adds to 100%, and it differs by corner. A fighter with no classifiable wins at any level leans on the fight-level split. “How it ends” is the model’s round-of-finish split. “Mkt” is the de-vigged market prop (consensus across books), shown for context, not as a betting signal; rounds & totals slots fill as that data lands. Percentages are apportioned by largest remainder, so each set adds to its total exactly and an individual figure can sit a point off its own rounding.

Model vs market
Final
ModelMarketGapLine
To win
Rogerio de Lima54.8%66.9%−12.1-230
Tafa45.3%33.1%+12.2+190

Market % is the de-vigged (no-vig) consensus across the books that price both fighters; the line is the average across books with the min–max range in parentheses. Gap is the model minus the market in points (+ = the model rates that outcome above the market). Thin or one-sided markets are flagged or left blank rather than shown as a fabricated %. Shown for context, not as a bet — the closing line is the sharpest public price and the model trails it on average. For 5-round bouts the model splits its round-3+ finish mass into rounds 3–5 by the historical within-bucket rate, so the over-3.5 / 4.5 lines carry a model estimate.

Trait web
72.7Striking71.6
Rogerio de Lima +1.1
55.7Grappling23.5
Rogerio de Lima +32.2
Str/minStr accStr defAbsorbedTD/15TD accTD defSubs
Hover a point to see the values
Rogerio de LimaTafa
Tale of the tape
Ratings (Elo)
1571
Pound-for-pound
1516
1573
Divisional
1516
1538
Striking offense
1507
1520
Striking defense
1513
1517
Grappling offense
1498
1499
Grappling defense
1504
Physical
38 yrs
Age
27 yrs
6'1"
Height
6'3"
75"
Reach
75"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
Striking (UFC career)
3.54
Strikes landed / min
1.83
59%
Strike accuracy
41%
2.49
Strikes absorbed / min
0.55
52%
Strike defense
76%
Grappling (UFC career)
1.55
Takedowns / 15 min
0.00
48%
Takedown accuracy
67%
Takedown defense
85%
0.6
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.0
Form & résumé
59%
UFC win rate
50%
-1
Win/loss streak
+1
60%
Last-5 win rate
50%
70%
Finish rate
100%
Recent opp. quality
203
Days since last fight
175
Recent form (last 5 UFC)
Marcos Rogerio de Lima
  • LDerrick LewisKO/TKO R1
    Close -2157mo before
  • WWaldo Cortes AcostaU-DEC R3
    Close -18110mo before
  • WAndrei ArlovskiSUB R1
    Close -2591y 4mo before
  • LBlagoy IvanovU-DEC R3
    Close +1281y 9mo before
  • WBen RothwellKO/TKO R1
    Close +1392y 3mo before
Junior Tafa
  • WParker PorterKO/TKO R1
    Close -1626mo before
  • LMohammed UsmanU-DEC R3
    Close -11610mo before
Rogerio de Lima — win / loss by method
Record: 21-9-1

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
14 wins, 2 losses
W
67% of wins
L
22% of losses
Submission
3 wins, 5 losses
W
14% of wins
L
56% of losses
Decision
4 wins, 2 losses
W
19% of wins
L
22% of losses
UFC
10win7loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
5 (50%)KO/TKO(14%) 1
2 (20%)Submission(71%) 5
3 (30%)Decision(14%) 1
Non-UFC
11win2loss1draw0NC
WinsLosses
9 (82%)KO/TKO(50%) 1
1 (9%)Submission(0%) 0
1 (9%)Decision(50%) 1
Tafa — win / loss by method
Record: 5-1-0

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
5 wins, 0 losses
W
100% of wins
L
0% of losses
Submission
0 wins, 0 losses
W
0% of wins
L
0% of losses
Decision
0 wins, 1 loss
W
0% of wins
L
100% of losses
UFC
1win1loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
1 (100%)KO/TKO(0%) 0
0 (0%)Submission(0%) 0
0 (0%)Decision(100%) 1
Non-UFC
4win0loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
4 (100%)KO/TKO() 0
0 (0%)Submission() 0
0 (0%)Decision() 0

Profiles

Experience
Rogerio de Lima
Tafa
17
UFC fights
2
96.7 min · 5.7 avg
Octagon time
16.4 min · 8.2 avg
17y 4m
Career length
4y 1m
UFC schedule strength

Opponents' records on fight night — toggle their full cross-promotional record vs UFC bouts only.

Rogerio de Lima
Tafa
304W–107L · 74.0%
Overall
22W–10L · 68.8%
165W–63L · 72.4%
Wins
14W–8L · 63.6%
139W–44L · 76.0%
Losses
8W–2L · 80.0%
Non-UFC schedule strength
Rogerio de Lima
Tafa
79W–41L · 65.8%
Overall
28W–20L · 58.3%
54W–31L · 63.5%
Wins
28W–20L · 58.3%
25W–10L · 71.4%
Losses
0W–0L
Distance striking
Rogerio de Lima
Tafa
6.62
Landed / min
5.07
53.1%
Accuracy
30.8%
56.4%
Defense
87.1%
0.93
Knockdowns / 15 min
0.91
35.7%
Time at distance
19.2%
Grappling & control
Rogerio de Lima
Tafa
1.55
Takedowns / 15 min
0.00
47.6%
Takedown accuracy
66.7%
Takedown defense
84.6%
0.62
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.00
70.9%
Control share
0.5%
Strike target map
Rogerio de Lima
  • Head58%(200)div 65%
  • Body18%(63)div 20%
  • Legs23%(79)div 16%
Tafa
  • Head80%(24)div 65%
  • Body20%(6)div 20%
  • Legs0%(0)div 16%

Where each fighter lands significant strikes (career). “div” = the weight-class average.

Marcos Rogerio de Lima
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.

Junior Tafa
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.