Tai Tuivasa
Tai Tuivasa (born 16 March 1993) is an Australian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of 12 September 2023, he is #8 in the UFC heavyweight rankings. Early life 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. Mixed martial arts career 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 former UFC Heavyweight Champion 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