Tai Anthony Tuivasa (born 16 March 1993) is an Australian professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. He currently competes in the

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

(UFC). As of June 10, 2025, he is #11 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.

Early life

Tuivasa was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

(

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

) mother and a Samoan father. He grew up in the western Sydney suburb of

Mount Druitt Mount Druitt is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown, and is part of the Greater Western Sydney regio ...

with 11 siblings, and predominantly played

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

in his youth. He was signed by the professional

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

rugby league club in 2010, but gave up playing the sport when he developed a

gambling addiction Problem gambling, ludopathy, or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to DSM-5 if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological ga ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Tuivasa made his professional MMA debut in August 2012 in his native Australia. He fought sporadically over the next four years, with all of his wins ending in knockouts. Tuivasa also fought a couple of MMA mixed rules bouts with Combat 8 promotions. Tuivasa fought Australian former

representative John Hopoate on 1 December 2012 in the Newcastle Panthers FC arena at Combat 8:02, the second Combat 8 event, winning the fight by TKO. Tuivasa later fought kickboxer Peter Graham at Combat 8:03, in a back-and-forth brawl that seemed as if Tuivasa would finish his opponent early on. Yet as the fight went on, Graham rallied and Tuivasa tired, leading to an eventual loss for Tuivasa via TKO in the second round due to punches.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In November 2016, it was announced that Tuivasa had signed a four-fight contract with the

. According to Tuivasa, he had to sit out for an extended period due to a knee injury and subsequent surgery. Tuivasa made his UFC debut against

Rashad Coulter Orlando Rashad Coulter (born November 27, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Light heavyweight (MMA), light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 201 ...

on 19 November 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Tybura. Tuivasa won the fight by knockout after a flying knee in the first round, and became the first Indigenous Australian to win a UFC fight. This win also earned him the Performance of the Night bonus. Tuivasa faced Cyril Asker on 11 February 2018 at

UFC 221 ''UFC 221: Romero vs. Rockhold'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on February 11, 2018, at Perth Arena in Perth, Australia. Background While the UFC has hosted 11 previous events across t ...

. He won the fight via technical knock out in the first round. On 13 February 2018 Tuivasa entered the UFC's official rankings for heavyweight fighters, coming in at position 15. In March 2018, Tuivasa signed a new, four-fight contract with UFC. Tuivasa faced

Andrei Arlovski Andrei Arlovski (, born 4 February 1979) is a Belarusian-American professional mixed martial artist and actor. A former UFC Heavyweight Champion, he competed in the heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and holds th ...

on 9 June 2018 at UFC 225. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Tuivasa faced former UFC Heavyweight Champion

Junior dos Santos Junior dos Santos (; born 30 January 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former professional wrestler who competes in the Heavyweight division. He is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and current Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA Heavyweigh ...

on 2 December 2018 at UFC Fight Night 142. He lost the fight via technical knockout in round two. Tuivasa faced

Blagoy Ivanov Blagoy Ivanov (; born October 9, 1986) is a Bulgarian mixed martial artist and Sambo practitioner who is currently signed to the PFL, but on suspension due to testing positive to anabolic steroids. He previously competed for the Ultimate Fighti ...

on 8 June 2019 at UFC 238. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Tuivasa faced Serghei Spivac on 6 October 2019 at

UFC 243 ''UFC 243: Whittaker vs. Adesanya'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 6, 2019, at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. Background The event was the fourth th ...

. He lost the fight via arm-triangle choke in the second round. Tuivasa was scheduled to face Jarjis Danho on 6 June 2020 at UFC 251. However, on 9 April,

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who is the CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at . Out ...

, the president of UFC, announced that this event was postponed to a future date. Tuivasa faced

Stefan Struve Stefan Struve (; born February 18, 1988) is a Dutch former mixed martial artist who competed as a heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Standing at tall, he is the tallest fighter in the history of the UFC. Background Growing ...

on 24 October 2020 at

UFC 254 ''UFC 254: Khabib vs. Gaethje'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 24, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Background The event proceeded ...

. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. Tuivasa was scheduled to face Don'Tale Mayes on 20 March 2021 at UFC on ESPN 21. However, Mayes was removed from the fight during the week leading up to the event for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by promotional newcomer Harry Hunsucker. Tuivasa won the fight via technical knockout in round one. Tuivasa faced Greg Hardy on 10 July 2021 at UFC 264. He won the fight via knockout in round one. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award. Tuivasa was scheduled to face Walt Harris on 30 October 2021 at UFC 267; however, Harris pulled out of the bout. Tuivasa was then scheduled to face Augusto Sakai on 20 November 2021 at UFC Fight Night 198, but due to visa issues for Tuivasa, the bout was scrapped. The bout was rescheduled and eventually took place on 11 December 2021 at

UFC 269 ''UFC 269: Oliveira vs. Poirier'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 11, 2021, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United State ...

. Tuivasa won the fight via knockout in the second round. The win also earned Tuivasa his third Performance of the Night bonus award. Tuivasa faced

Derrick Lewis Derrick James Lewis (born February 7, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he currently holds the record for most knockouts i ...

on 12 February 2022 at

UFC 271 ''UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 12, 2022 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, United States. Background A UFC Middleweight Champio ...

. Tuivasa won the fight via knockout in round two. The win earned him a Performance of the Night bonus award. Tuivasa faced

Ciryl Gane Ciryl Romain Jacky Gane (born April 12, 1990) is a French professional mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai fighter. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Interi ...

on 3 September 2022 at UFC Fight Night 209. Despite a knockdown for Tuivasa in the second round, he lost the fight via knockout in round three. This fight earned him the '' Fight of the Night'' award. Tuivasa faced Sergei Pavlovich on 3 December 2022, at

UFC on ESPN 42 ''UFC on ESPN: Thompson vs. Holland'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 42'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 3, 2022, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, United States. B ...

. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round. Tuivasa faced Alexander Volkov on 10 September 2023, at UFC 293. He lost the fight via ezekiel choke in the second round. Tuivasa was scheduled to face Marcin Tybura on 17 February 2024, at UFC 298. On 12 January 2024, it was announced that the fight was rescheduled to headline UFC Fight Night 239 on 16 March 2024. He lost the bout in the first round due to a rear-naked choke submission. Tuivasa faced Jairzinho Rozenstruik on 18 August 2024 at UFC 305. He lost the fight by split decision. Judge Howie Booth, who scored the fight 30-27 for Tuivasa, was relieved of his duties midway through the event, and received widespread criticism from pundits, fighters and fans for his scorecard; 15 out of 15 media outlets scored the bout 30-27 for Rozenstruik.

Championships and accomplishments

** Performance of the Night (four times) ** Fight of the Night (one time) **Tied for fourth most consecutive knockouts in UFC history (5) **UFC.com Awards ***2022: Ranked #7 Fight of the Year & Ranked #8 Upset of the Year *

Australian Fighting Championship Australian Fighting Championship (AFC) was an Australian mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation based in Melbourne. In 2013, AFC was described as Australia's leading MMA organisation by MMA Kanvas and was part of Sherdog's list of top 50 global ...

** AFC Heavyweight Champion (one time) * National Dreamtime Awards 2018 **National Dreamtime Awards 2018 International Sportsperson of the Year. * MMAjunkie.com **2021 July Knockout of the Month

Personal life

Tuivasa has one son, with Brierley Pedro who is the sister of former UFC light heavyweight fighter

Tyson Pedro Tyson Pedro (born 17 September 1991) is an Australian former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Pedro is an Australian of American Samoan h ...

. Tuivasa currently hosts "The Halfcast Podcast", with Tyson Pedro and Andrew Fifita as co-hosts. Since 2018, Tuivasa has celebrated his victories by doing a shoey, drinking beer from a borrowed shoe. Sydney newspaper ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' coined the moniker "Shoeyvasa". At

, he won again but was not allowed to do the shoey in the cage, but has since continued the tradition. Tuivasa is co-owner of Drink West Brewery with

and Nathan Cleary. Tuivasa won the 2024 edition of '' The Amazing Race Australia'' (celebrity edition) with his brother Logan.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 14–8 , Jairzinho Rozenstruik , Decision (split) , UFC 305 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Australia , , - , Loss , align=center, 14–7 , Marcin Tybura , Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs. Tybura , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:08 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 14–6 , Alexander Volkov , Submission (Ezekiel choke) , UFC 293 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:37 ,

, Australia , , - , Loss , align=center, 14–5 , Sergei Pavlovich , KO (punches) , UFC on ESPN: Thompson vs. Holland , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:54 ,

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 14–4 ,

, KO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Tuivasa , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:23 ,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France , , - , Win , align=center, 14–3 ,

, KO (elbow) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:40 ,

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–3 , Augusto Sakai , KO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:26 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–3 , Greg Hardy , KO (punches) , UFC 264 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:07 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–3 , Harry Hunsucker , TKO (punches) , UFC on ESPN: Brunson vs. Holland , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:49 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 ,

, KO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:59 ,

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

, United Arab Emirates , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–3 , Serghei Spivac , Technical Submission (arm-triangle choke) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:14 ,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC 238 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–1 ,

, TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: dos Santos vs. Tuivasa , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:30 ,

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, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC 225 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Cyril Asker , TKO (punches and elbows) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:18 ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 ,

, KO (flying knee) , UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Tybura , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:35 ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , James McSweeney , TKO (corner stoppage) , AFC 17 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Brandon Sosoli , KO (elbow) , AFC 16 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:21 ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Gul Pohatu , TKO (punches) , Urban Fight Night 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:44 ,

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, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Erik Nosa , TKO (punches) , Gladiators Cage Fighting: Gladiators 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:28 ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Aaron Nieborak , TKO (punches) , Gladiators Cage Fighting: Gladiators 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Simon Osborne , TKO (punches) , Elite Cage Championships 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, Australia , , -

Professional boxing record

Kickboxing career

GFC

* In 2014 Tai competed in the GFC Heavyweight Tournament, Semi Finals against Ismael Lazaar and lost by technical knockout in round 2.Tapology

Record

* Tai obtained a kickboxing record of 12 wins and two losses.

MMA mixed rules record

, - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 , Peter Graham , TKO (punches) , Combat 8:03 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:55 , Big Top, Sydney, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , John Hopoate , TKO (punches) , Combat 8:02 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:40 , Wests City, Newcastle, Australia , , -

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuivasa, Tai 1993 births Living people Australian people of Indigenous Australian descent Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Sportsmen from New South Wales Australian male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing kickboxing Australian male kickboxers Australian sports podcasters Kickboxers from Sydney Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Australian company founders Drink company founders The Amazing Race winners 21st-century Australian sportsmen