Tai Tuivasa has won five fights in a row, is being talked about in the same breath as the UFC heavyweight champion, and his new business is taking off.
Despite a break from training, this is no time to rest.
The 28-year-old footy player turned knockout artist returned home from a year in Dubai after his most recent win – a brilliant knockout of American Derrick Lewis, in his home town of Houston.
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Tuivasa said before his fight with Lewis that the thing he was most looking forward to was picking his son ,Carter, up from school.
“Just to see his smile makes everything worth it – it’s been awesome,” he told Wide World of Sports.
“I’ve been busy, but it’s been good, good to be on daddy duties, and I’m really loving it.”
His plans to party have been somewhat curtailed by Sydney’s miserable weather.
“I haven’t really been out properly yet, the weather’s been s–t here,” he laughs.
“But I’m sure it’ll get hectic. It’s what I do, I love the people and I love my fans and I love just being home.
“I really missed it.”
Tuivasa shot up the rankings after that win, and now sits as the No. 3 contender; behind behind champion Francis Ngannou, Ciryl Gane, and Stipe Miocic.
Whether or not his next fight would be for the belt or not isn’t confirmed yet, but there were certainly encouraging words from UFC boss Dana White last week, who said the western Sydney boy was in that top tier, alongside those three.
“It’s definitely in conversations. I’m ready, I’m always up for the challenge and ready to do what needs to be done,” he said.
He’s currently taking a break from training since returning home, but says he’ll be back in the gym next week.
“I can’t get too fat,” he jokes.
“But I feel like I’ve been working hard for two years and feel like I’ve reached a point where I can have a bit of time off – and that’s always needed. We bash our bodies and go through this vigorous training and what not.”
It’s very well-earned for ‘Bam Bam’, who’s now won five fights in a row, each via knockout or TKO.
“It’s not for everyone – but I’ve got a pretty hard head,” he said of his ability to withstand the punishment that Lewis handed out before dishing some of his own.
He may have another fight beforehand – but dreams of a title fight are close to becoming a reality. His ideal venue? Commbank Stadium in western Sydney.
“If that happens, consider it game over,” he said.
“You’d need a few extra police on board.”
While that venue choice is exceptionally unlikely, there’s no doubt that Tuivasa’s success, along with others like Alex Volkanovski and Robert Whittaker, have catapulted the sport’s popularity in recent years.
“I have a big part of it – but also we deserve it as well, as athletes and as competitors,” he said.
“I think MMA is one of the hardest sports ever. You have to dedicate yourself to it, and how tough it is.
“Especially guys like Rob and Alex Volkanovski, they’re the best in the world. Not talking the best in Australia, the best in the world. People should know who these people are.”
Tuivasa is typically self-deprecating as he compares himself to those two – but he’s selling himself short.
“And then obviously, a d–khead like me who just drinks piss,” he said.
“But everyone plays their role and I accept it – and I’m not the one out here hating what I do. I love punching people and I love drinking piss so it works pretty good for me.”
And as a business man, he’s doing better than most – revealing that he’s sold almost 5000 ‘Shoeyvasas’ so far.
It’s a device that resembles a shoe that goes around your drinking vessel – to emulate doing his trademark shoey celebration in a sanitary way.
“It’s awesome – it gets the party started.
“With COVID and this and that, here it is. I knew that there were people who don’t like doing shoeys would buy it, so why not? “
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