Ravenna, however, Tufa again changed sides, and the elite Gothic soldiers entrusted to him were killed. This was considered Theodoric's first defeat in Italy.

In 490, after Odoacer had been defeated in battle by Theodoric and retreated to Ravenna, Tufa held his ground in the strategically important valley of Adige near Trento. In the fall of 491, Frideric, leader of the Rugii and an ally of Theodoric, defected