Tai Tuivasa has so much more going for him than the “shooey”—a jovial post-fight celebration in which he chugs beer out of a borrowed shoe.
As Tuivasa moves toward his high-stakes showdown with Gane, here are five things you might not know about him:
1. An admitted lack of self-control cost him outside the cage.
Tuivasa signed to play for the Sydney Roosters of Australia’s National Rugby League in 2010. However, he reportedly elected to walk away from the sport due to a gambling addiction.
2. Scorched-earth power made up for his lack of experience.
“Bam Bam” made his professional mixed martial arts debut at the age of 19 when he punched out Simon Osborne a mere 20 seconds into their Elite Cage Championships 2 pairing on July 6, 2012. In fact, Tuivasa went a perfect 3-0 as a teenager, storming through those three opponents in 88 seconds combined.
3. His talents were evident right from the start.
Tuivasa took out each of his first five opponents inside one minute. In addition to his aforementioned rout of Osborne, he dispatched Aaron Nieborak with punches in 40 seconds on Aug. 31, 2012, buried Erik Nosa with punches in 28 seconds on Nov. 9, 2012, cut down Gul Pohatu with punches in 44 seconds on Dec. 12, 2015 and flattened Brandon Sosoli with an elbow strike in 21 seconds on June 18, 2016.
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4. He understands what it means to be hunted.
The Tiger Muay Thai product laid claim to the Australian Fighting Championship heavyweight crown with his stoppage of Sosoli at AFC 16. Tuivasa successfully defended the title on one occasion—he prompted a corner stoppage against “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10 semifinalist James McSweeney at AFC 17 four months later—before he signed with the UFC.
5. Momentum was once aligned against him.
All three of Tuivasa’s losses occurred inside roughly a 10-month window between Dec. 1, 2018 and Oct. 5, 2019. He succumbed to second-round punches from Junior dos Santos at UFC Fight Night 142, dropped a unanimous decision to Blagoy Ivanov at UFC 238 and lost consciousness in the clutches of a second-round arm-triangle choke from Sergey Spivak at UFC 243.