"That was gonna be banger" - Fans dejected after Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Justin Tafa is off

The UFC 298 lineup recently underwent a change, with the heavyweight bout between Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Justin Tafa no longer being included.

The second pay-per-view event of 2024 is scheduled for Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

During the UFC's official weigh-in show on Friday, it was revealed that Tafa had sustained an undisclosed injury earlier in the fight week, leading to the cancellation of his bout. This setback comes at a crucial time for the 30-year-old Kiwi, who had the chance to secure a spot in the promotion's heavyweight rankings.

Tafa has remained undefeated in his last four fights, securing first-round knockout victories against Austen Lane, Parker Porter, and Harry Hunsucker. 'Bad Man' was slated to make his ninth appearance inside the octagon.

On the other hand, Rogerio de Lima aimed to recover from his first-round TKO defeat to Derrick Lewis at UFC 291 last July. Before this loss, 'Pezao' had secured victories in two consecutive matches and four out of five overall.

Fans responded to the cancellation of the Rogerio de Lima vs. Tafa bout with various reactions.

One fan wrote:

"Man, Tafa is so fun to watch always get Mark Hunt vibes from him."

Another wrote:

"Sheesh. That was gonna be banger."

Check out some more reactions below:

"Damn Tafa can’t catch a break."

"F**k sake my bet was a lock"

"Sucks, this would of been a violent match forsure."

"Only one thing to do. Bring back Parker Porter to save #UFC298"

"Justin Tafa is a clown."

Credits: @SpinninBackfist and @mma_orbit on X

Following the alteration, the UFC 298 fight card now consists of:

Main Card

Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria (featherweight title)

Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa (middleweight)

Ian Garry vs. Geoff Neal (welterweight)

Henry Cejudo vs. Merab Dvalishvili (bantamweight)

Anthony Hernandez vs. Roman Kopylov (middleweight)

Preliminary Card

Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Lemos (strawweight)

Rinya Nakamura vs. Carlos Vera (bantamweight)

Zhang Mingyang vs. Brendson Ribeiro (light heavyweight)

Early Preliminary Card

Josh Quinlan vs. Danny Barlow (welterweight)

Oban Elliott vs. Val Woodburn (welterweight)

Andrea Lee vs. Miranda Maverick (women's flyweight)