Tai Tuivasa hit a rock bottom earlier this year, losing four straight UFC bouts.
Following his first-round submission loss to Marcin Tybura at UFC Fight Night 239 on March 16, Tuivasa told Fox Sports Australia that he left the UFC Apex almost immediately and walked barefoot through Las Vegas with his fighting gear still on.
“I was so angry,” Tuivasa said. “My mind was racing. I was saying to myself, ‘This is awful… this is awful to be a loser.'”
The 31-year-old Tuivasa quickly became a fan favorite at UFC thanks to his affable personality, propensity for knockouts and post-fight shoe-in celebrations. “Bam Bam” suffered three straight losses early in his UFC tenure but bounced back with a five-fight win streak, culminating in a brutal elbow defeat of reigning knockout king Derrick Lewis at UFC 271 in February 2022.
But since then, Tuivasa has had a tough time, suffering losses to Tybura, Alexander Volkov, Sergey Pavlovic and Cyril Ganet – all of which came close. He hoped the Tybura fight would be a turning point, but it didn’t. Tuivasa now realizes he just wasn’t in the right frame of mind.
“My last few losses were mental,” he said. “I wasn’t focused on the fight at the time. I wasn’t really focused. I wanted to fight. I wanted to hurt my opponent. But I wasn’t there, you know? I brought what I brought from outside the cage into the fight and it showed.”
“Because I really hoped that fight would change everything. I really hoped that it would be my comeback fight. But I was still too angry. So it didn’t happen.”
Tuivasa wouldn’t go into specifics about what was going on outside the cage, saying only that it was “personal,” but moving his training camp from his hometown of Sydney has given him a new perspective, and he believes being based in Dubai has greatly improved his focus ahead of Saturday’s bout with Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 305.
UFC 305: du Plessis vs. Adesanya, Saturday at 10pm ET on ESPN+. Order now! “But I finally got to a point where I said, ‘OK, I’m done,'” Tuivasa said. “It’s hard to be away from my son, but I come from a slum. I know no one can change anything but me. In Dubai, I’m away from everything and everyone. All I think about is fighting.”
Tuivasa admits that being at home can be distracting.
“I’m a normal guy,” he said. “I love my friends, I love drinking. I’ve got a lot of family in Sydney, a lot of friends, a lot going on. Again, I’m a normal guy and I get caught up in it very easily, so I needed to get away. In Dubai I can get away from it all. I can focus. I’m sober… I’m totally focused.”
Perhaps just as importantly, Tuivasa insists he is in the right mindset.
“And now I feel ready,” Tuivasa said. “Not only am I physically healthy, but I’m mentally ready. And fighting is 80 percent mental. So you’re not just fighting to finish things. You’re fighting to win. And I know I’ve done everything to prepare for that.”