Tai Tuivasa is sure to drink lots of beer after he won the UFC 271 comain event.
The Australian heavyweight wrestled with Derrick Lewis Saturday night. This is a common occurrence for opponents who face “The Black Beast.” Fortune favors the bold. Lewis was sent to the ground by a devastating elbow strike from Tuivasa.
The fight was stopped immediately as Tuivasa turned to celebrate with the end coming at 1:40 in the second round.
“That’s the king of knockouts. Much respect to Derrick,” Tuivasa said afterwards. “I’m young and up and coming. Now I am taking over. My name’s Tai like Muay Thai! I like throwing elbows. I enjoy getting down to the nitty gritty.
Both fighters were possessed of incredible one-punch knockout powers, so Lewis and Tuivasa looked cocky and prepared to take out any mistake. Lewis began to get more aggressive as Tuivasa tried to set up his leg kicks. He also started going head hunting using his punches.
After a clinch against the cage, Lewis actually took Tuivasa to the ground before the heavyweights got back to the feet and just started swinging sledgehammers at each other. The wild exchanges continued with Tuivasa almost inviting Lewis to come after him as they continued launching bombs.
This strategy is often deemed a disaster but Tuivasa was confident in his ability to survive. He took a couple of shots from Lewis before he started firing off his punches with as much pop as possible.
Another crazy exchange saw Lewis gunning for the finish but it was Tuivasa who clipped him with a perfectly timed counter right hand that put the former heavyweight title challenger on rubber legs. Tuivasa continued to throw strikes until he uncorked the elbow that blasted Lewis and knocked him out on the feet before he then went crashing to the canvas.
It was an incredible performance by Tuivasa. He went to Lewis’ home, played dangerous games with him on his feet, and still came away with a win. As a UFC Heavyweight Division champion, Tuivasa now has five wins in succession — all by knockout.
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