Many fans think Tai Tuivasa has fallen off the success train. ‘Bam Bam’, who rose because of his powerful striking abilities and charismatic personality, is on a three-fight losing streak. The Australian was scheduled to face Polish Marcin Tybura in a heavyweight bout at UFC 298 last week.
But a knee injury, which relegated the fighter to have to walk with crutches, forced him to pull out. He will now face ‘the Pole’ at the top of a Fight Night card on March 16. However, his recent losses have fans concerned for his future.
Tai Tuivasa does a ‘Shoey’ at WWE
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Tai Tuivasa was recently spotted at the WWE’s Elimination Chamber in Perth, Australia on Saturday. The UFC and WWE are sister companies given they are both owned by parent company TKO Holdings as there is a lot of synergy between the two promotions. And the marketing folks at WWE certainly did their homework and tried to create a special moment for Tuivasa in his home country.
Tai Tuivasa doing a shoey with WWE superstar Grayson Waller at #WWEChamber in Perth today 🇦🇺🍻
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) February 24, 2024
Tuivasa is famous for his ‘Shoeys’, an Australian party custom where beer is poured into a shoe and then drunk, which he started doing after victories. During the main event, Australian wrestler Grayson Waller approached ‘Bam Bam’, who was sitting in the front row with a pair of shoes and beer. Tuivasa took the hint and did another one of his signature ‘Shoeys,’ albeit not from a sweaty, worn shoe as he usually does since Lesnar was kind enough to bring what looked like a fresh pair of shoes. Fans, of course, were delighted.
Fans react to ‘Bam Bam’s Shoey
Fans were ticked at Tai Tuivasa pulling off another Shoey as he gears up to face Tybura at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas next month. Here are some of the ways fans reacted to it.
One fan mistakenly thought the golden boots they drank beer out of were the ones launched by Donald Trump:
“Thought those were the new January 6’s that Donny just released”
Another felt that unless the UFC reciprocated when WWE stars attend UFC events, the WWE should not do these gestures for UFC fighters:
“Unless Dana is going to take time out of his programs to dedicate a minute or so to WWE superstars like the WWE has a for UFC fighters then they need to stop imo.”
One fan hoped Tuivasa was preparing hard for his upcoming Tybura fight:
“He’s got a relatively important fight, for him, coming up in like 3 weeks. Hope he’s not doing *too* many shoeys”
Another strangely deduced that his love for shoeys was the reason Tuivasa was on a three-fight losing streak:
“No wonder the mf is on a losing streak”
Another pointed out that Tuivasa had been relegated to the prelim card in his last fight and hoped he could bounce back:
“Tai was supposed to fight on a EARLY prelim spot on the last card or the one before that i believe. Hoping he can make it back near the top one day.”
One fan wanted to see Waller give the Aussie a Stone Cold Stunner:
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Would have been great if he gave Tai a Stone Cold “STUNNER”
Another felt Tuivasa bore a striking resemblance to former UFC star Jorge Masvidal:
“Holy shit I thought that was @GamebredFighter”
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A lot depends on Tai Tuivasa’s next fight, which is likely to relegate the loser out of the top-ten rankings of the heavyweight division. A win would certainly help him consolidate his position as the gatekeeper to the top of the heavyweight division and create space for an eventual title shot in the relatively sparse heavyweight division.
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