Justin Tafa was set to step into the Octagon on September 27, 2025, at UFC Perth. Everything seemed on track—until it wasn’t. His scheduled bout against Louie Sutherland was pulled from the card after Tafa fell ill during the official weigh-ins. Soon after, things took a turn for the worse. Reports surfaced that the 31-year-old heavyweight had been released from the UFC.

According to MMA Fighting, a source close to the promotion confirmed Justin Tafa’s release. In response, the New Zealand–Australian fighter took to social media to announce that he would be stepping away from MMA for a while, with hopes of returning stronger than ever. But just as the dust began to settle, another piece of bad news struck him.

Justin Tafa mourns the passing of Katalayah Skelton

Tafa shared an Instagram story from the ‘Alo O Samoa Dance Academy,’ announcing the heartbreaking passing of young Katalayah Skelton. He captioned the post “🙏🕊️,” a simple yet powerful expression of grief. The dance academy’s post featured a picture of Skelton, accompanied by an emotional farewell message. “Amuia le masina, e alu ma toe sau,” they wrote, translating to “Blessed is the moon, it goes and then returns.” 

They continued, “It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of one of our dear students, our sweet Katalayah.” According to the post, the image was from her “3rd year dancing with us from Oriana to Le Aute, and it was a pleasure to have her under our guidance.” They added, “Her warm smile, acts of kindness, and memories will forever be remembered in this academy. A great and big loss.”

“She was more than a student; she was one of our young dancing queens. With the showcase being 2 weeks away, her presence will be missed, but she will have the best seat on the night, watching over her fellow academy brothers and sisters carry out this showcase for her. Our love and heartfelt condolences are with our Skelton family,” the academy wrote. Reports indicate that Katalayah was from Springfield, Illinois. 

Her family has invited the community to join them in honoring her memory, with a memorial ceremony also planned. In the wake of her passing, people quickly came together to mourn the loss—standing in solidarity with Justin Tafa during this difficult time.

Community comes together to mourn Skelton’s passing

Comments quickly started flooding in. One user wrote, “Fly high beautiful angel 🕊️🤍😢.” It’s currently unclear how Skelton passed away. Another user paid their tribute with a final message. “Blessed are the children, for theirs is the kingdom of God,” the user commented. Notably, other details about her life remain a mystery. 

Someone else added, “Rest in love beautiful girl ♥️🕊️🥺.” A fourth user expressed condolences for the family. “🥺🤍🕊️ RIL beautiful, condolences to her family x,” the user wrote. Meanwhile, this user, who is also a father, could not imagine the pain Skelton’s family must be going through. “As a father, this just kills me ❤️🕊️,” the user wrote. 

Having said that, it appears Tafa’s Samoan roots with the young child forced him to join hundreds of others mourning her unfortunate passing. Do you have any final messages?