• Xenforo Cloud is upgrading us to version 2.3.8 on Monday February 16th, 2026 at 12:00 AM PST. Expect a temporary downtime during this process. More info here

Tai Tuivasa was never that good

blaseblase said:
It's taken two long years but finally he is out of the top 10. He was never an elite heavyweight. He got a gift matchup against Derrick Lewis, who has the power to win and lose against anyone in the division. Tai fought him at the right time and got all the way to a title eliminator with Cyril Gane. Imagine if he had gotten a freak KO in that fight and was the one welcoming Jon Jones to the division. His grappling has sucked all these years, he never deserved top 10 status. He's a brawler with zero ground game. Someone with this skill set would never even earn a top 10 fight in the lighter divisions.
Click to expand...
I was just thinking about this the other day. Imagine if Tuivasa ending up knocking out Cyril Gane during that big punch? He was at an impressive peak at that point... but now he's plummeting. Getting his grappling exposed really, really, really sank him now as well. Lots of fighters will exploit that.
 
This is one of the "never that good" posts that's actually legitimate. He's a fun action fighter but that's all he's ever been and will ever be. Would make an absolute killing in BKFC
 
He's lost an additional fight to Rozenstruik since I made this thread, I had forgotten some idiot judge made this a split decision when it was a clear loss. If Despaigne wins his fight tomorrow I wouldn't mind seeing that because I don't see Tai taking the fight to the ground.
 
They need to stop matching him as if they expect him to get back into the rankings. He was 0-4 and they fed him to Rozenstruik who was coming off a win. That's a bizarre decision. Everyone he's lost to he would have also lost to at the time he was on a win streak. Book him against a couple bottom tier heavyweights and he'll put together some wins. He's a name and is worth keeping around on the prelims for some sloppy KOs if they match him appropriately. And if he wins a couple give him a Derrick Lewis rematch.
 
Imagine the career trajectory if hardy slept him as he almost did.
 
blaseblase said:
They need to stop matching him as if they expect him to get back into the rankings. He was 0-4 and they fed him to Rozenstruik who was coming off a win. That's a bizarre decision. Everyone he's lost to he would have also lost to at the time he was on a win streak. Book him against a couple bottom tier heavyweights and he'll put together some wins. He's a name and is worth keeping around on the prelims for some sloppy KOs if they match him appropriately. And if he wins a couple give him a Derrick Lewis rematch.
Click to expand...
Put him against a tafa brother imo
 
Anyone that likes to drink beer out of a random dudes sweaty shoe can't be smart enough to be taken seriously
 
oski said:
Was he ever your friend?

giphy.gif
Click to expand...
What’s the deal with this disgusting habbit?
 
An entertaining HW with good brawler instincts but not a top level HW.
 
blaseblase said:
It's taken two long years but finally he is out of the top 10. He was never an elite heavyweight. He got a gift matchup against Derrick Lewis, who has the power to win and lose against anyone in the division. Tai fought him at the right time and got all the way to a title eliminator with Cyril Gane. Imagine if he had gotten a freak KO in that fight and was the one welcoming Jon Jones to the division. His grappling has sucked all these years, he never deserved top 10 status. He's a brawler with zero ground game. Someone with this skill set would never even earn a top 10 fight in the lighter divisions.
Click to expand...
Hard to imagine him doing worse then Gane did.
 
No need to hate on him.

Dude did pretty good - was definitely one of the best fighters in the world at one point. That's nothing to shake a stick at. He was fairly ranked after some legitimate wins, and then met more than his match and has slid down the rankings.

It happens. No need to throw shade at a bruva.
 
Streeter said:
Anyone that likes to drink beer out of a random dudes sweaty shoe can't be smart enough to be taken seriously
Click to expand...

He should fight that sumo wrestler in Rizin

Tai is a fighter who deserves Japan
 
H
Stump said:
No need to hate on him.

Dude did pretty good - was definitely one of the best fighters in the world at one point. That's nothing to shake a stick at. He was fairly ranked after some legitimate wins, and then met more than his match and has slid down the rankings.

It happens. No need to throw shade at a bruva.
Click to expand...
He did what he could do
 
uled said:
H

He did what he could do
Click to expand...

Indeed - and it's a hell of a lot more than 99.9% of the population could or even could try to do.

Also, he regularly put on exciting fights and seems like a good bloke. What's to hate?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,282,097
Messages
58,414,272
Members
176,031
Latest member
Golden Rhino

Share this page

Back
Top