Tai Tuivasa

Tai Anthony Tuivasa (born 16 March 1993) is an Australian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of December 13, 2021, he is #11 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.

Tuivasa was born in Sydney to an Indigenous Australian (Wiradjuri) mother, and a Samoan father. He grew up in the western Sydney suburb of Mount Druitt with 11 siblings, and predominantly played rugby league in his youth. He was signed by the professional Sydney Roosters rugby league club in 2010 but gave up playing the sport when he developed a gambling addiction.

Early career

Tuivasa made his professional MMA debut in August 2012 in his native Australia. He fought sporadically over the next four years, with all of his wins ending in knockouts.

Tuivasa also fought a couple MMA mixed rules bouts with Combat 8 promotions. Tuivasa fought Australian former rugby league representative John Hopoate on 1 December 2012 in the Newcastle Panthers FC arena at Combat 8:02, the second Combat 8 event, winning the fight by TKO. Tuivasa later fought kickboxer Peter Graham at Combat 8:03, in a back and forth brawl that seemed as if Tuivasa would finish his opponent early on. Yet as the fight went on, Graham rallied and Tuivasa tired, leading to an eventual loss for Tuivasa via TKO in the second round due to punches.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In November 2016, it was announced that Tuivasa had signed a four-fight contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. According to Tuivasa, he had to sit out for an extended period due to a knee injury and subsequent surgery.

Tuivasa would make his UFC debut against Rashad Coulter on 19 November 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Tybura. Tuivasa won the fight via knockout due to a flying knee in the first round and became the first indigenous Australian to win a UFC fight. This win also earned him the Performance of the Night bonus.

Tuivasa faced Cyril Asker on 11 February 2018 at UFC 221. He won the fight via technical knock out in the first round. On 13 February 2018 Tuivasa entered the UFC's official rankings for heavyweight fighters, coming in at position 15.

In March 2018, Tuivasa signed a new, four-fight contract with UFC. Tuivasa faced Andrei Arlovski on 9 June 2018 at UFC 225. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Tuivasa faced Junior dos Santos on 2 December 2018 at UFC Fight Night 142.He lost the fight via technical knockout in round two.

Tuivasa faced Blagoy Ivanov on 8 June 2019 at UFC 238. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Tuivasa faced Sergey Spivak on 6 October 2019 at UFC 243. He lost the fight via arm-triangle choke in the second round.

Tuivasa was scheduled to face Jarjis Danho on 6 June 2020 at UFC 251. However, on 9 April, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed to a future date.

Tuivasa faced Stefan Struve on 24 October 2020 at UFC 254. He won the fight via knockout in the first round.

Tuivasa was scheduled to face Don'Tale Mayes on 20 March 2021 at UFC on ESPN 21. However, Mayes was removed from the fight during the week leading up to the event for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by promotional newcomer Harry Hunsucker. Tuivasa won the fight via technical knockout in round one.

Tuivasa faced Greg Hardy on 10 July 2021 at UFC 264. He won the fight via knockout in round one. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Tuivasa was scheduled to face Walt Harris on 30 October 2021 at UFC 267. However, Harris pulled out of the bout and Tuivasa was scheduled to face Augusto Sakai on November 20, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 198. However due to visa issues for Tuivasa, the bout was scrapped. The pair was rescheduled and eventually met on December 11, 2021 at UFC 269. Tuivasa won the fight via knockout in the second round. The win also earned Tuivasa his third Performance of the Night bonus award.

Tuivasa faced Derrick Lewis on February 12, 2022 at UFC 271. Tuivasa won the fight via knockout in round two. The win earned him a Performance of the Night bonus award.

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Performance of the Night (Four times) vs. Rashad Coulter, Greg Hardy, Augusto Sakai and Derrick Lewis

• Australian Fighting Championship
  • AFC Heavyweight Champion (One time)

• National Dreamtime Awards 2018
  • National Dreamtime Awards 2018 International Sportsperson of the Year.

• MMAjunkie.com
  • 2021 July Knockout of the Month vs. Greg Hardy

Tuivasa has one son, Carter Tuivasa, to Brierley Pedro who is the sister of UFC light heavyweight fighter Tyson Pedro.

Tuivasa currently hosts "The Halfcast Podcast" with Tyson Pedro and Andrew Fifita as co-hosts.

In 2018, Tuivasa celebrated his wins at UFC 221 and UFC 225 by doing a shoey, drinking beer from a borrowed shoe. Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph coined the moniker "Shoeyvasa". On UFC 254 he won again but was not allowed to do the shoey in the cage.