On Sunday afternoon, Tai Tuivasa shocked the world with a dominant second round knockout victory over Derrick Lewis at the Toyota Centre in Houston Texas.
It was exactly what fans from Australia had hoped for. Tuivasa was a rising prospect ever since entering the UFC but after he was fast-tracked by the company, he went on a three-fight losing streak. He picked up losses to former UFC heavyweight champion, Junior Dos Antos, Blagoy Ivanov and Sergey Spivak within a 10 month span.
It was then where Tuivasa began looking for improvements and he returned to the ring a year later against Stefan Struve, knocking out the seven-foot Dutchman within one round at UFC 254.
He defeated Harry Hunsucker, Greg Hardy and Augusta Sakai – all by knockout.
Despite picking up victories ever since the three-fight losing streak, Lewis was always going to be Tuivasa’s toughest fight and biggest test of his career.
Heading into the co-main event, Lewis was ranked third in the world and had even picked up a win over current UFC champion, Francis Ngannou in the past.
The moment wasn’t too big for Tuivasa. The heavyweight from Western Sydney understood exactly what needed to be done and produced one of the best performances of the night with an elbow which stunned Lewis and saw the American fall head first onto the canvas.
It proved exactly why there is hype surrounding Tuivasa and why he shouldn’t be doubted in the heavyweight division.
With a big win on his record, a fight against Cyril Gane who is coming off his first career loss in MMA at the hands of Ngannou in a title unification fight, should be in the pipeline.
Whether this eventuates or not, the UFC has a star on their hands. People want knockouts, they want a fighter who is willing to bang and put on a show and Tuivasa ticks all those boxes.
