Tai Tuivasa Decides To Squeeze In Title-Chasing Between Parties & Shoeys

UFC wildman Tai Tuivasa may just have a goal besides beer-swelling and indiscriminate banging after all.

Tai Tuivasa isn’t your conventional fighter. In fact, the man just plain isn’t your conventional human being.

Indeed, there is only one “Bam Bam,” and he is the embodiment of the phrase, “I’m here for a good time, not a long time.”

As someone who exudes such a lax outlook on life, he hasn’t been one to care much about things most fighters tend to, such as rankings or titles. Instead, his priorities have been on shoey drinking, walk-out-song mastery, and banging it out with whoever is placed in front of him, damn the results and torpedoes.

After his latest KO, which came at the expense of the KO king Derrick Lewis at UC 271, Tuivasa reinforced his carefree attitude when it comes to the world title picture. Now weeks later, “Bam Bam” seems willing to squeeze in title-chasing to his list of high-level priorities.

Our Andrew Starc posed the question if Tuivasa is a legitimate title contender or the UFC’s joker. Turns out, the answer may very well be both.

“I’ll be walking around with it (the belt) on my waist like a clown. I’ll be that old clown at the pub telling everyone how great he was when I was young. It’s going to happen. It will happen,” Tuivasa told ABC News.

“As long as you have a crack, what’s the worst that can happen? You might lose. That’s it.”

As Tuivasa has always said, he’s willing to “bang on” with anyone, and yes, that includes the man often referred to as the scariest man in UFC history and current heavyweight titleholder, Francis Ngannou.

“That’s why I do this stuff, the challenge. Obviously, I do it to get paid, but I love the challenge, that aspect of fighting,” Tuivasa said. “It’s happened to me, I’ve lost as well, and the person you lose to always has that feather in their hat. It’s something you go after – or I do, anyway.”

Dana White has confirmed that he considers Tai Tuivasa to be in the world title picture. It would be difficult not to when the Aussie now finds himself ranked #3 in the division.

That said, Tuivasa might be one more win away from the banger of his life: a must-see scrap against Francis Ngannou or whoever the champion may be that’s standing in the way between “Bam Bam” and a championship shoey.

Can you imagine Tai Tuivasa becoming YOUR UFC heavyweight champion of the world??