UFC Adelaide will feature a very exciting heavyweight main event for fight fans. Rising heavyweight prospect Tai Tuivasa will face, arguably, the biggest challenge of his career. He’ll step into the Octagon to main event the evening opposite former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos. The Brazilian isn’t taking a lengthy layoff following his win this past summer.
“Cigano” defeated Blagoy Ivanov in Boise, Idaho this past July via unanimous decision. It was his first victory since April of 2016. As for his Australian counterpart, he extended his undefeated mixed martial arts (MMA) record this past June. Tuivasa bested former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski via unanimous decision at UFC 225. It was the first fight of Tuivasa’s career that he didn’t finish his opponent in the first round. However, he proved he has what it takes to go for 15 minutes inside the cage with the division’s best.
Street Fighting
Recently, dos Santos spoke to Sporting News and discusses his upcoming opponent. The Brazilian noticed that when Bruce Buffer introduces him, Tuivasa labels himself as representing “street fighting.” This doesn’t sit well with the former heavyweight king:
“In his last fight, with Arlovski, when Bruce Buffer was introducing him, he said he represents street fighting,” dos Santos said. “I was watching the fight last night, and saw that and was like ‘what?! That’s not even a martial art.’ I thought I was fighting against a martial artist, but that’s not the case.
“I want to know more about this, and one day I’ll ask him. To represent street fighting…that’s just stupid. Who fights in the streets? It’s not even fair. That’s a coward. Street fighting is not a martial art – it doesn’t exist. How can someone represent street fighting – that’s bullshit.
“Everyone, all the gyms around the world, are fighting against that – against this kind of stupid thing, this coward thing,” dos Santos said. “It doesn’t exist. You’re not a street fighter, you’re a coward.
“These people who fight in the streets don’t really know how to fight. Come to a real gym, face a real fighter and you’ll get your ass kicked. And if this guy, Tai Tuivasa, is really a street fighter, that’s what he’s going to have – he’s going to have his ass kicked by me on December 2nd in Adelaide.”
What do you think of “JDS'” comments about Tuivasa?
