UFC 264: Tai Tuivasa knocks out Greg Hardy in one round, celebrates with Shoey

Brendan Bradford

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UFC 264: Tai Tuivasa knocks out Greg Hardy in one round, celebrates with Shoey image

WESTERN SYDNEY, STAND UP!

That was the message from Tai Tuivasa after scoring a brutal first round knockout win over Greg Hardy on the prelims to Conor McGregor's UFC 264 trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier. 

The win is Tuivasa's third in succession, all of them coming via knockout. 

Tuivasa opened with a series of dangerous leg kicks on the bigger Hardy but was wobbled slightly by the American in their first exchange in close. 

Hardy saw Tuivasa was rattled and charged in too recklessly. 

Tuivasa was waiting. 

Despite doing the stanky leg, the Western Sydney product fought fire with fire and slept Hardy with a left hook going backwards. 

He didn't need to, but Tuivasa finished the bout off with ground and pound before it was stopped.

The stoppage came one minute seven seconds into the first round. 

"That was good, he wanted to bang with me, I'm not the right guy to bang with - pick another bloke," Tuivasa said afterwards. 

"I wanna fight someone in the top 10 or 15. I don't give a f**k, I want to put on a show for the fans." 

In true Mt Druitt style, he celebrated with a Shoey while sitting on top of the cage. 





Tuivasa's win and celebration are going viral as we speak, but he had already created a memorable moment during his walkout. 

The 28-year-old always picks bangers to walk out to, including Vanessa Carlton, Celine Dion, OneFour and Shannon Noll, and this was no different. 

Tuivasa got the packed out T-Mobile crowd on its feet when he walked out to the Spice Girls. 



Tuivasa now has three wins on the bounce, including a first-round knockout of veteran Stefan Struve before a quickfire KO of late-notice debutant Harry Hunsucker. 

 

 

Brendan Bradford