UFC: Tai Tuivasa ready to rejoin the winner’s circle،
Australian heavyweight Tai Tuivasa has vowed to “murder” Poland's Marcin Tybura this weekend at UFC Fight Night 239, as he looks to put another three-fight losing streak behind him.
The fight between Tuivasa (15-6) and Tybura (24-8) was originally scheduled to take place a month earlier at UFC 298 in California – headlined by Alex Volkanovski's featherweight title fight and Ilia Topuria – but it was forced to be postponed. after Tuivasa suffered a torn meniscus in the latter stages of his training camp.
“I had surgery on my elbow and my knee,” Tuivasa told ESPN ahead of the postponed fight, which now takes place at the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada. “I had to fix a few broken things to get back in shape, but I feel more ready than ever. This camp has been great. I'm back with my original team and have everyone from home . .
I just need a win. I just suffered three defeats and it's a shame to be the loser. I'm here to win [and] The sooner I get out of there, the sooner my birthday party starts.”
Tuivasa's last fight took place in his hometown of Sydney at UFC 293 in September. That day, he was totally outclassed by Alexander Volkov and suffered a brutal defeat in the second round thanks to a rare Ezekiel Choke.
Volkov did not allow Tuivasa to find his feet in front of his audience. The Russian started with a series of damaging leg kicks, moved on to body and head strikes and finished by demonstrating his grappling skills. Tuivasa's lack of range made it difficult to repel Volkov's attack bursts, and he was never able to land any meaningful shots.
After being forced into submission for only the second time in his career, Tuivasa left the Octagon shaking his head and berating himself with expletives. But six months later, he discovered a whole new perspective on fighting.
“I actually thought I did worse than I did,” Tuivasa said. “I left the ring thinking, 'Damn, I just got crushed,' but I looked at him and I did better than I thought. But it is what it is and there is no “There's no excuse. Volkov beat me that night and that's it. I just have to deal with the loss and move on.”
“I'm 30 years old and I'm still learning. I still have a few years left and I feel like I'm getting better. I'm becoming more and more professional, sometimes. I've gotten better from the people around me, a better team that takes care of different things and keeps my body in check. They stop me from wandering around.
The loss to Volkov follows losses to Ciryl Gane and Sergei Pavlovich at the end of 2022. This is not the first time Tuivasa has suffered a three-game losing streak, having found himself in this exact position after his disappointing loss to Serghei Spivak at UFC 243 in 2019.
He ended that winless streak by making a statement against Stefan Struve, the start of what would be a five-win streak before his final speed bump. This time he will have to turn things around against Tybura, 38, who also suffered defeat in his last fight, falling to Tom Aspinall last July.
“It’s a little bit different,” Tuivasa told ESPN when asked how this loss compared to the previous one. “Last time, maybe I wasn't [fighting] so good, but this time I lost a few to some good fighters. I don't think about [the losing streak]go ahead, do my job, do what my corner tells me to do and I should be right.
“I want to be active. I had a big gap during the last stint, then I had the [Volkov] fight and I just didn't have my body ready. I feel like my body is better now. I prefer to do like football: fight every weekend and not train.
