Athletes
Tai Tuivasa Doesn't Mind Ruining The Party
Australian Slugger Tai Tuivasa Hopes To Pull Off The Upset In Enemy Territory At UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa
Mention Sydney, Australia to anyone and the first visions will be of the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and any number of local tourist sites. UFC heavyweight contender Tai Tuivasa wants you to know where he’s from.
“Western Sydney is home for me,” he said. “It’s a place of battlers, a place of people looking to prove a point and a place of struggles.”
Don't Miss Tuivasa Take On Gane In The Main Event At UFC Paris!
Tuivasa, who faces former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane in the main event of the UFC’s first card in France this Saturday, carries his hometown proudly wherever he goes, even if it wasn’t an easy life for him in his formative years.
How Dubai Helps Tai Tuivasa Train | UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa
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How Dubai Helps Tai Tuivasa Train | UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa
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“I kinda grew up quickly because I experienced things in life, probably different things that other kids shouldn’t have experienced or didn’t experience,” he said. “I’ve been around crime, drugs, alcohol, and it’s all kinda played a certain role in my life.”
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It was the kind of environment that could have led him down a certain path, but his natural gifts provided another one that has led him to the pinnacle of his profession at the age of 29.
“I was always lucky with sport,” said the former rugby league player and current prizefighter. “It was an outlet for me.”
One that allowed him to take out the frustrations of his past on his opponents, first on the pitch and then in the realm of sanctioned combat. And while some approach this as a sport, it’s always been a fight for “Bam Bam,” and he’s taken strength from Western Sydney to get through it.
“They’re real people going through real things,” he said of his neighbors. “You learn not to take no s**t from no one, and that’s pretty much how I live my life, especially my fighting career. I’m in there to fight, so it (Western Sydney) taught me a lot.”
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And if anyone’s been a natural in mixed martial arts, it’s been Tuivasa, owner of a 15-3 record that includes 14 knockout victories. The first 10 wins came without incident, and a trio of victories over Rashad Coulter, Cyril Asker and Andrei Arlovski proved that he could hang at the UFC level. But hanging and becoming a serious world title threat are two different things, and as soon as he put together a three-fight winning streak in the Octagon, he lost three straight to Junior Dos Santos, Blagoy Ivanov and Serghei Spivac and needed to re-evaluate everything.
Main Event Preview | UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa
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Main Event Preview | UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa
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“I always knew I had the ability,” Tuivasa said. “I’ve always had a lot of self-confidence, not just in fighting, but in anything, really. But I knew it was gonna end as fast as it came up, and if I didn’t want it to end, I had to change something.”
So he did – in his personal life, his professional life, and in his mindset.
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He hasn’t lost since, and after knocking out Stefan Struve, Harry Hunsucker, Greg Hardy, Augusto Sakai and Derrick Lewis in succession, he’s in Paris looking to spoil the night of hometown hero Gane.
“I’m a massive underdog and they’re sending me into the trenches again to fight a hometown boy, and I wouldn’t mind ruining the party,” said Tuivasa, who respects the affable Gane, but doesn’t fear what he brings to the Octagon.
“Gane is explosive and fast, just an all-around great athlete,” he said. “My biggest advantage would be my heart. And if I have to make it dirty, then we’re gonna get dirty.”
Those are the words of Tai Tuivasa, from Kingswood, Western Sydney.
“I’m from Western Sydney,” he said. “We are the underdogs. We’ve always been written off. And one thing I really like to do in life is prove people wrong, so I’m gonna keep doing it.”
UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa took place on September 3, 2022, live from the Accor Arena in Paris, France. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
