Tai Tuivasa

Did You Know?

• Tuivasa grew up in the western Sydney suburb of Mount Druitt with 11 siblings.
• He was signed by the professional Sydney Roosters rugby league club in 2010 but gave up the sport due to a gambling addiction.
• Tuivasa's mother is Indigenous Australian (Wiradjuri) and his father is Samoan.

Mixed martial arts career

Tuivasa began his professional MMA career in August 2012 in Australia, fighting sporadically over the next four years with all his wins coming by knockout. He also participated in mixed rules bouts under Combat 8 promotions. On 1 December 2012 at Combat 8:02, he defeated former Australian rugby league representative John Hopoate by TKO. At Combat 8:03, Tuivasa faced kickboxer Peter Graham; after a back-and-forth brawl where Tuivasa appeared close to finishing early, Graham rallied and Tuivasa tired, resulting in a TKO loss for Tuivasa in the second round.

In November 2016, Tuivasa signed a four-fight contract with the UFC, though a knee injury and subsequent surgery forced an extended layoff. He made his UFC debut on 19 November 2017 at UFC Fight Night 121 against Rashad Coulter, winning by knockout via a flying knee in the first round. This victory made him the first Indigenous Australian to win a UFC fight and earned him a Performance of the Night bonus. On 11 February 2018 at UFC 221, Tuivasa defeated Cyril Asker by technical knockout in the first round, and on 13 February 2018 he entered the UFC heavyweight rankings at position 15.

In March 2018, he signed a new four-fight UFC contract. He won against Andrei Arlovski by unanimous decision on 9 June 2018 at UFC 225. Tuivasa lost to former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos by technical knockout in round two on 2 December 2018 at UFC Fight Night 142. He lost to Blagoy Ivanov by unanimous decision on 8 June 2019 at UFC 238, and to Serghei Spivac via arm-triangle choke in the second round on 6 October 2019 at UFC 243.

A scheduled bout with Jarjis Danho on 6 June 2020 at UFC 251 was postponed. Tuivasa defeated Stefan Struve by knockout in the first round on 24 October 2020 at UFC 254.

Personal life

Tai Tuivasa and Brierley Pedro, whose brother is ex-UFC fighter Tyson Pedro, have a son together. Tuivasa co-hosts The Halfcast Podcast with Pedro and Andrew Fifita. Since 2018, his victory ritual has been a shoey—drinking beer from a borrowed shoe—which led Sydney’s Daily Telegraph to nickname him “Shoeyvasa.” He is a co-owner of Drink West Brewery alongside Pedro and Nathan Cleary. In 2024, Tuivasa and his brother Logan won the celebrity edition of The Amazing Race Australia.