Tai Tuivasa blames no one but himself for a poor performance at UFC Perth that led to his seventh consecutive loss in a row.
Despite being heavily favored to win, especially with opponent Louie Sutherland taking the fight on short notice, Tuivasa just never got going in the fight, giving up multiple takedowns and spending the majority of the 15 minutes on his back. Even in the moments when Tuivasa had time to work on his feet, he couldn’t really produce much damage and Sutherland just repeatedly threw him back to the canvas again and again.
Advertisement
Following the unanimous decision loss, Tuivasa took to Instagram to release a statement expressing his disappointment in the result.
“Sorry, I tried,” Tuivasa wrote. “I felt good. I put in the work. Didn’t get the result. I feel like a shit c*nt. Let my fans down again. Back to the drawing board for me. C*nt of a sport.
“But I will never give up. I’m from western Sydney, you gotta put me out for me to give up. Sorry all my loyal fans, I really am and to my team, love yahs.”
Tuivasa contemplated walking away from the sport after his fifth straight loss but ultimately decided to return to action after more than a year off. Sadly, he experienced the same bad results after dropping a decision to Tallison Teixeira back in February.
Advertisement
He wasted no time booking his next fight for the UFC Perth card on Saturday but once again Tuivasa struggled to produce much offense with Sutherland countering his massive power with takedowns while racking up huge swaths of control time on the ground.
To make matters worse, Tuivasa also had a point deducted late in the fight for an illegal knee as Sutherland swept the scorecards for his first UFC victory.
While Tuivasa clearly plans to fight again, it’s tough to say if that happens in the UFC.
Most fighters aren’t afforded more than a few consecutive losses before being released, but Tuivasa has always been a fan favorite so he was obviously granted more time to turn things around. Unfortunately, he’s not sitting on seven losses in a row and it remains to be seen if the UFC wants to bring him back for one more fight or not.
