Tai Tuivasa is not happy with the state of the UFC heavyweight division.
Once upon a time, ‘Bam Bam’ looked like he was going to be the next big thing at heavyweight, scoring five straight wins, including a stunning second-round knockout of Derrick Lewis in February 2022.
Unfortunately, Tuivasa’s hype was quickly quelled after Aussie proceeded to drop five in a row, his most recent coming against Jairzinho Rozenstruik in a snoozefest of a fight in August.
At this point, the only fight anyone is talking about at heavyweight is the long-awaited title unification clash between undisputed champion Jon Jones and interim titleholder Tom Aspinall. And while there’s no denying that Jones vs. Aspinall is one of the biggest fights the UFC could make right now, the fact remains that it’s the only remotely interesting fight left in the division.
Offering his insight on the stagnating weight class, Tuivasa believes that we could be at one of the lowest points in the division, where, outside of Jones and Aspinall, there’s nothing to be excited about.
“Bro, the heavyweights, they’re all sh*t except for Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall,” Tuivasa told Ariel Helwani. “Other than that, everyone’s pretty standard. Exactly! So that’s the thing. I’ve had my time off, I’m going to get back into training, get myself ready, get myself around a good team, and I’m going to get back. That’s all they know. That’s all right, I’ll be back.”
Tai Tuivasa aiming for a 2026 return
Closing in on a year since his last appearance inside the Octagon, Tuivasa confirmed that he’s eyeing a 2026 return.
“I’m going to go back into the cage,” Tuivasa said. “I’m going to aim for the start of next year. ”Look at me, I need to get back in the gym. I need to get ready. I’ll be 140 kg [approx. 308 pounds], easy. It’s big, whatever it is, I don’t know, it’s big.”
Having not won a fight in over three years, Tuivasa knew it was time to take a break from the fight game to pursue other ventures, though he can’t deny that he’s already started to miss throwing hands and downing shooeys in front of 20,000 screaming fans.
“Definitely, that’s why I needed this break,” Tuivasa added. “I feel much better now I’ve had this break. It’s kind of grounded me a little bit in what I want to do. I’ve been going hard in my businesses and stuff like that, so it’s definitely given me some time away from training and from fighting, but we’re fighters, so it’s naturally in me, and I’m kind of missing it now.
“I definitely want to get back into it, but I want to come back, and I’ve got something to prove. I’m not done yet.”
