Tai Tuivasa was never that good

blaseblase said:
He's only 31, lol at pretending he's "past his prime." He's always been this bad. His only win of note is Derrick Lewis, who as I mentioned has the unique ability to win or lose against anyone in the division. He just fought Lewis at the right time. One fight, one KO against a surging Lewis. That was the only reason he ever entered the top 10 and it took 2 years to get him out. You put him against Tybura 2 years ago and he loses the same way.
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He has been fighting pro a long time, he boxed and kickboxed before MMA, he’s probably a pretty old 31 in fighting terms.
 
Hes a good gatekeeper imo. Basic skillset but hes a big puncher and has a good chin. If you're legit top 10 level then you'll have the skills to get around that and beat him, otherwise he'll probably take your head off at some point.
 
TankAbbott4Eva said:
He has been fighting pro a long time, he boxed and kickboxed before MMA, he’s probably a pretty old 31 in fighting terms.
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No, he just sucks. Look at Pereira and Adesanya for examples. Tuivasa is one of the worst fighters in the UFC currently, Amanda Ribas has more skill in her left leg than Tuivasa's whole body. It's not the age, Tuivasa is just not a good fighter in terms of MMA, unskilled.
 
He got utterly run over by Spivak more than 4 years ago, and it doesn't seem like his grappling improved much if at all from there, judging by recent results.

He still got a chance standing up against most of the division, but anyone with some kind of offensive grappling can beat him.


Not many grapplers at HW, so UFC can still paddy his record a bit, dunno if they still care.
 
As cliched as this type of thread is, In this case I don’t really disagree. He’s a slightly more skilled and disciplined version of tank abbot. Just a sloppy brawler with power. It’s a trick that will work against the right opponents and against better opponents from time to time. But won’t ever bring him consistent success in the top 10 as we’re seeing. Fun and nice fella, but is what it is.
 
Heavyweight in general isn't that good
 
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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.
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Heres the thing though..he doesnt really need a ground game..if he really doesnt want to develop one he could atleast develop the ability to counter wrestle or stay on his feet where his brawling can be effective...ala Chuck Liddell school of sprawl and brawl...

Unfortunately he's chosen to do neither..and i dont think he cares ... And until that changes nothing will ,

He has the potential to be a champ at HW but he needs to address these issues first...
 
Bruh, if grappling sucking disqualifies a fighter from the HW top 10, then would there even be a top 10?
 
Mike said:
Tai being top 5 at one point was proof some mma divisions are regressing and this whole concept of super rapid evolution at every weight class is overblown. No, every ranked fighter today wouldn't automatically beat ranked fighters from 5, 10, or even 15 years ago. You're telling me Tai would have been a contender in the pride hw division? Fuck outta here lmao.
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HW especially I think you look back then and you had a top 10 of something like Fedor, Nog, Crocop, Barnett, Arlovski, Werdum, Sylvia, Hunt, Aleks, Sergei, all guys with serious ability/potential, someone like Ben Rothwell who I would put above Tai was not top 10 in that era.

Top 10 at HW these days is more like top 20 back then, not that top 20 was ever THAT well defined but I remember the way people used the term back then and the kind of fighters it was used for I think are a similar kind of skill level to someone like Tai.
 
Kb7 said:
Stop, if Tuivasa was dedicated and serious about his fighting career he would be 218-243 as a LHW. Fighters like Tuivasa are getting phased out, I honestly believe he's the worst fighter in the UFC based on skill, he sucks. He could take all the steroids in the world but building actual MMA skills, wrestlingX striking submission, grappling etc takes actual dedication ex GSP, Khabib, Demetrius. Tuivasa is not that guy, it was clear YEARS ago, people were just too gullible and didn't want to admit it, he's not a good fighter.
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I never thought he would shock the world but it was fun while it lasted
 
He delivered us from Greg Hardy; that's good enough.
 
For how bad he is, he's needed in the heavyweight division for spectacular knockouts or gets beaten to a pulp
 
Dorkman said:
As cliched as this type of thread is, In this case I don’t really disagree. He’s a slightly more skilled and disciplined version of tank abbot. Just a sloppy brawler with power. It’s a trick that will work against the right opponents and against better opponents from time to time. But won’t ever bring him consistent success in the top 10 as we’re seeing. Fun and nice fella, but is what it is.
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To be honest yeah I don't dislike him and there is something to be said for "big guys brawling" in terms of excitement but I feel like the UFC have been too happy to play to that, happy to make HW mostly at that level were you can get such matches main eventing TV cards rather than spending more to maximise HW talent levels.

Look at something like Barnett vs Nog back in the day and it shows HW can be much more than that.
 
he’s a slower, less athletic, less skilled, less explosive version of francis nggano. thus, he had all the tools to be a hw champ.
 
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