Tai Tuivasa came up short against Tallison Teixeira at UFC 325. | Getty/UFC
Even after a hiatus of over a year, Tai Tuivasa’s slump continued at UFC 325.The popular Australian heavyweight struggled to stay on his feet, dropping a unanimous decision to Tallison Teixeira in a featured fight at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena last Saturday. It was Tuivasa’s sixth straight loss inside the Octagon, a skid dating back to September 2022.
“Bam Bam” expressed his disappointment over the defeat in a statement on his Instagram account.
Hurts the soul
“That hurts the soul more than any punch,” Tuivasa wrote. “I tried, I had a great camp and I was looking forward to going back to camp with the guys from Tripl3 MMA, which I could work on so much. Always great love for my supporters, especially the Australian fans/crowd who always cheer me on. I’m sorry for falling short again. F-king st feeling.””My poor boy has seen me go into hiding a few too many times now, but like I always tell him, as long as you give it everything you’ve got and keep trying, that’s all that matters. As long as I do this, I’ll always keep trying. I had a great week together with him and showed him. I didn’t get the result, son, but that’s how life goes sometimes. I hope I absorb all the losses.”
Tuivasa, who made his UFC debut in 2017, emerged as a fan favorite thanks to both his penchant for knockout victories and post-fight “shoeys,” in which he guzzles beer from a variety of shoes. The 32-year-old won his first three Octagon appearances before dropping his next three appearances. However, “Bam Bam” bounced back from that slump to win his next four, culminating in a second-round knockout of Derrick Lewis at UFC 271 in February 2022.
That would be the highlight of Tuivasa’s UFC tenure, however, as he has since dropped back-to-back fights against Ciryl Gane, Sergei Pavlovich, Alexander Volkov, Marcin Tybura, Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Teixeira. Finally, Tuivasa indicated that he might focus more on wrestling for future fights.
[Khamzat
Chimaev]“I come to wrestle, brother,” he wrote. Teach me. I’m tired of this hugging.”
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